I have been a happy Roku owner for more than a year. We previously had Ameritech DSL at a very slow 2Mbps download speed with a Netgear router and we could watch Roku without a problem.

Ameritech discontinued the DSL. We switched to Time Warner Cable standard internet. There is a new Motorola cable modem and then the same NetGear router.

I am getting speeds of 15Mbps, so things should be even better. With the old DSL, NetFlix would stream at 2 or 3 "dots", now it streams at 4 dots HD.

The problem: we can not sustain an internet connection for more than 20 minutes. We will start watching a show, then the Internet goes down. It takes about a minute for the service to come back up. Over the course of a 90 minute movie on NetFlix, this will happen four times. The service comes back automatically...I don't have to cycle the modem or the router. There are 2 computers & 2 Roku boxes on the network, but it is not a matter of another device starting to use bandwidth. The problem happens anytime that I try to use sustained Internet bandwidth for many minutes. Watching a webcast via GoToMeeting or via the Adobe Connect the connection gets interrupted. I was on a 60 minute webcast yesterday and lost internet 3 times, each time for about a minute. In each case, the Wired Internet symbol in the Windows 7 taskbar shows the yellow ! icon, reports No Internet, then comes back without me touching the router or modem. I was thrilled to "cut the cable" and stop paying TWC for TV. It seems like these little 1 minute interruptions would be a great way to prevent me from watching via Roku.

I previously read this thread: viewtopic.php?t=25719&start=0 and tried switching my DNS to Google or Speakeasy. The problem remains.

Can you suggest any diagnostic tools or where to start to find the problem? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Bill

Hi Bill,

if you bypass the router and hook a device directly to the modem does it still cut out? If it does contact TWC (it sounds like a problem with the modem) if you google motorola modems and time warner you will see that this an ongoing issue.

bjele123 wrote:

I have been a happy Roku owner for more than a year. We previously had Ameritech DSL at a very slow 2Mbps download speed with a Netgear router and we could watch Roku without a problem.

Ameritech discontinued the DSL. We switched to Time Warner Cable standard internet. There is a new Motorola cable modem and then the same NetGear router.

I am getting speeds of 15Mbps, so things should be even better. With the old DSL, NetFlix would stream at 2 or 3 "dots", now it streams at 4 dots HD.

The problem: we can not sustain an internet connection for more than 20 minutes. We will start watching a show, then the Internet goes down. It takes about a minute for the service to come back up. Over the course of a 90 minute movie on NetFlix, this will happen four times. The service comes back automatically...I don't have to cycle the modem or the router. There are 2 computers & 2 Roku boxes on the network, but it is not a matter of another device starting to use bandwidth. The problem happens anytime that I try to use sustained Internet bandwidth for many minutes. Watching a webcast via GoToMeeting or via the Adobe Connect the connection gets interrupted. I was on a 60 minute webcast yesterday and lost internet 3 times, each time for about a minute. In each case, the Wired Internet symbol in the Windows 7 taskbar shows the yellow ! icon, reports No Internet, then comes back without me touching the router or modem. I was thrilled to "cut the cable" and stop paying TWC for TV. It seems like these little 1 minute interruptions would be a great way to prevent me from watching via Roku.

I previously read this thread: viewtopic.php?t=25719&start=0 and tried switching my DNS to Google or Speakeasy. The problem remains.

Can you suggest any diagnostic tools or where to start to find the problem? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Bill

Bill,

I also have TWC(Time Warner Cable), out of NW Pennsylvania. I have the same standard internet as you, but mine is 10Mbps down/1Mbps up. Sounds like you have the boost added to your account. But that is neither her, nor there, and will not matter.

Anyway, I have a Netgear Router, and a ZOOM modem. I have some things wired(ROKU XS/Sony Blu-ray), and other things wireless(PS3).

The hardwired ROKU XS is connected via Powerline Adpaters, made by Belkin, to the Router in another room. Have worked like CHAMPS ever since I got a set almost 3 years ago. Now have six of them in total.

Anyhow, I began too experience, like you, problems with the "hardwired" stuff with my TWC internet. But NOT the wireless. So, if your ROKU is hardwired, and if possible, TRY USING THE WIRELESS setup instead, first.

If it is already wireless, and you are having problems, I would try switcjing out the modem first. Sounds like you may be using an old mortorola surfboard modem. If that is not it, it could be your router as well(Is it a newer one with wireless-N at least. Netgear N-600 or better?).

Routers, and modems, just like everything else, can break, and or go bad. Also, make sure your ROUTER has the latest firmware/software available. Alot of people just connect these things up and forget about them. Using the instructions availabe to you, and using your ADMIN account will allow you to check the firmware/software, and make sure it is up to date.

Time Warner is not blocking you friend...you have a problem with your network somewhere. I have had Time Warner standard internet for over five years....no issues. Motorola surfboard modem and my own Netgear wndr-3300 router. If you haven't already, try cycling the modem, router and roku. My guess is a power cycle may correct the problem or you have a modem or router on the blink. When i checked my twc acct last time, i notice they now have a third party monitoring internet useage. Their graph only caps at 150 gb per month. Last month we were borderline, we do a ton of streaming around here. Point being, they aren't blocking, but possibly beginning to throttle. Give a report back, there are many knowledgeable folks on this forum.

jambandit7 wrote:

Their graph only caps at 150 gb per month. Last month we were borderline, we do a ton of streaming around here. Point being, they aren't blocking, but possibly beginning to throttle. Give a report back, there are many knowledgeable folks on this forum.

Interesting, why do you think your graph caps at 150gb per month? Could be the graph scales to fit the data. My last 4 monthly usage stats for Time Warner are 245GB, 247GB, 311GB, and 353GB. Virtually all of this was streaming video, I haven't had any torrent downloads for about a year.

I have their standard internet which just increased to 15Mbps down and 1Mbps up.

TWC isn't blocking roku for me - i understand it could be different in different areas but it's not a company wide practice. i was actually speaking to one of their corporate technicians [not the local people] earlier this year when the local techs couldn't handle getting my new customer owned modem set up on TWC's service. when the tech found out i was upgrading to handle the traffic of 4 rokus and 3 computers we had a conversation about speeds for handling streaming traffic, the best modems for streaming, etc.
from what i gather they are getting quite used to cord cutting and if the emails i get from them are any indication, TWC is taking this opportunity to make more types of internet only plans available so they can get more money from people who want to stream more.
and i notice that the usage tracking graph changes on the TWC site when i check it, depending on the usage for the month i am looking at. it resizes to fit the data

TWC is packet shaping Netflix for me here.

I can stream video from most any large, high bandwidth site like apple.com at a solid 10mbit, then switch to Netflix and it drops to 250kB or so. I've tested this fairly regularly over the last month with the same results.



This is why net neutrality is important. TWC is competing by making their competitor's product worse, not improving their own.

That graph doesn't mean a lot. Your connection to the Netflix CDN also plays an important role.

You need multiple locations and CDNs in order to provide even a modestly reliable test.

C. Shawn Smith

Yea, that's why I basically ran the same tests a few nights a week for 3-4 weeks straight, that and the fact that it's far too much work to figure out what I am actually connected to on Netflix's end. The same results over and over tell me something. Every other site running at a full 10mbit, Netflix always running far too slow for HD on my Roku.

The afternoon is a different story however. Netflix streams fine then, daily, without fail. When primetime hits, I'm lucky to get 4 dots. Generally get 3.

Just how do I determine what Netflix IP I am connected to? I'd guess with their load balancers and such it's impossible.

Doesn't really matter, it's simply too much of a coincidence that everything else streams at high bandwidth and Netflix sucks balls over at least 100 30 minute tests over a month's time.

Bubby wrote:

TWC is packet shaping Netflix for me here.

I can stream video from most any large, high bandwidth site like apple.com at a solid 10mbit, then switch to Netflix and it drops to 250kB or so. I've tested this fairly regularly over the last month with the same results.

You may have a problem, but manipulation by Time Warner isn't it.

Here is Netflix report on ISPs for November. They report the average Netflix stream to a Time Warner customer as being 2.12Mbps.