Netflix on xbox? (who's doing it here)

Gtx Gaming

Gtx Gaming
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So i am going to setup netflix tonight on my xbox ,want to know some details.

I moved my za account to usa based account now on the website, that was the right thing to do yes?

I am going to use unodns to access netflix it should work fine , the netflix app should show up on the list i presume.

Last thing Does it stream HD on the xbox? i have 6mb dsl line.

Thanx
 
I left my account as an SA Live account, all I did was create a UK Silver account to download the app, once the app is downlaoded it works perfectly on my SA Gold account

I use UnblockUS and haven't had a days issue

As for HD content, I had a 4Mb Mweb account and quality was good but def not HD, moved to a 2Mb and hardly much difference

Do you currently have a Netflix Account?
 
I left my account as an SA Live account, all I did was create a UK Silver account to download the app, once the app is downlaoded it works perfectly on my SA Gold account

I use UnblockUS and haven't had a days issue

As for HD content, I had a 4Mb Mweb account and quality was good but def not HD, moved to a 2Mb and hardly much difference

Do you currently have a Netflix Account?

There is a speed penalty for using a VPN service due to the encryption overhead.
Also irrespective of your local connection speed the VPN service might be limiting your
bandwidth.

The bandwidth requirement to stream HD is between 4-8mbps depending on codec used. etc.

Try an elephantvpn.com gold account as their speeds are far faster than most others
 
my netflix account is set up can use netflix on my pc with unodns , signed with za credit card, hulu seems to be a bit of a issue.

seems to be working fine ,watching some south park!
 
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I use Netflix on my console with UnoTelly VPN, but quality not good. My console is hooked up to a 120" 720p screen, and at that size sub standard quality stands out.
I prefer Hulu anyway, and that I cannot get to play on the console :o
 
I have a 10mb line, and accounts with 3 ISPs: Mweb's premium 10mb uncapped, OpenWeb's 'Gamer King / Downloader Bling' account, and an unshaped Afrihost capped account. I subscribe to UnoDNS, Netflix, & Hulu Plus, and have tested everything with all 3 ISPs. I have a Windows 8 PC, an Xbox, and a WD TV Live Streaming Media Player. Here's what I've found:

When streaming Netflix through a browser (i.e. Chrome) I can never seem to get up to 200kBps, no matter what ISP I've used. It seems to average around 160kBps, giving me 'SD / DVD' quality. I always thought that was due to Netflix not being optimized for connections outside the US, or something to that effect. My Xbox performs similarly. 2 out of 4 bars (1 bar, 2 bars, 3 bars & 'HD'). Strangely enough, Hulu seems to stream 720p with no problems; both on my Xbox AND my PC browser. I noticed that the bandwidth requirement for 720p Hulu is about 350kBps.

Here's where it gets interesting:

I recently purchased a Western Digital 'TV Live' Streaming Media player, for about R1,000.00, and guess what.. Netflix streams in perfect HD quality. It has no 'bar' system or bandwidth monitor, but it most definitely streams at least 720p, all the time, irrespective of ISP.

I also recently discovered that Silverlight (used to stream Netflix in browsers) is TERRIBLE for streaming HD. It has no hardware acceleration at all; people around the world have complained about it. HD Netflix problems on the Xbox are also very common.

This basically means that the quality of your Netflix stream is far more device/app dependent, rather than your network setup or choice of ISP. Obviously these things do count, but if you're really serious on streaming Netflix in HD, buy yourself a WD Live TV Streaming Media Player or let me know if you discover another device that works as well

As far as I can tell, based on bandwidth & device tests in South Africa, the Xbox will never stream Netflix in HD, and neither will your PC, but if you're lucky enough to have a WD TV Live Streaming Media Player, and at least a 4mb uncapped account, you'll be smiling

Hope this helps
 
I have a 10mb line, and accounts with 3 ISPs: Mweb's premium 10mb uncapped, OpenWeb's 'Gamer King / Downloader Bling' account, and an unshaped Afrihost capped account. I subscribe to UnoDNS, Netflix, & Hulu Plus, and have tested everything with all 3 ISPs. I have a Windows 8 PC, an Xbox, and a WD TV Live Streaming Media Player. Here's what I've found:

When streaming Netflix through a browser (i.e. Chrome) I can never seem to get up to 200kBps, no matter what ISP I've used. It seems to average around 160kBps, giving me 'SD / DVD' quality. I always thought that was due to Netflix not being optimized for connections outside the US, or something to that effect. My Xbox performs similarly. 2 out of 4 bars (1 bar, 2 bars, 3 bars & 'HD'). Strangely enough, Hulu seems to stream 720p with no problems; both on my Xbox AND my PC browser. I noticed that the bandwidth requirement for 720p Hulu is about 350kBps.

Here's where it gets interesting:

I recently purchased a Western Digital 'TV Live' Streaming Media player, for about R1,000.00, and guess what.. Netflix streams in perfect HD quality. It has no 'bar' system or bandwidth monitor, but it most definitely streams at least 720p, all the time, irrespective of ISP.

I also recently discovered that Silverlight (used to stream Netflix in browsers) is TERRIBLE for streaming HD. It has no hardware acceleration at all; people around the world have complained about it. HD Netflix problems on the Xbox are also very common.

This basically means that the quality of your Netflix stream is far more device/app dependent, rather than your network setup or choice of ISP. Obviously these things do count, but if you're really serious on streaming Netflix in HD, buy yourself a WD Live TV Streaming Media Player or let me know if you discover another device that works as well

As far as I can tell, based on bandwidth & device tests in South Africa, the Xbox will never stream Netflix in HD, and neither will your PC, but if you're lucky enough to have a WD TV Live Streaming Media Player, and at least a 4mb uncapped account, you'll be smiling

Hope this helps

Do you think the Roku 3 would stream Netflix good? Its also a standalone media player similar to the WD one you have.

PS. How do you pay for Hulu? What are the payment options?
I know Netflix has vouchers but not sure about Hulu.
 
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Do you think the Roku 3 would stream Netflix good? Its also a standalone media player similar to the WD one you have.

PS. How do you pay for Hulu? What are the payment options?
I know Netflix has vouchers but not sure about Hulu.

Can't vouch for the Roku 3, never used one :P

Paying for Hulu is a headache unless you create a new US PayPal accout (with a false US address / phone number) and link it to your S.A. credit card. When it asks for your banking details for verification, just navigate away from the page and return (click 'help', then back... or something), the banking question goes away and voila, you're done.

From that point on, all you ever need to use is your new magic US PayPal account. Use it for Netflix, Spotify, Hulu.. whatever :)

I wish I had created one ages ago, instead of battling with overseas region-locked subscriptions every time I tried to pay for one :D
 
Can't vouch for the Roku 3, never used one :P

Paying for Hulu is a headache unless you create a new US PayPal accout (with a false US address / phone number) and link it to your S.A. credit card. When it asks for your banking details for verification, just navigate away from the page and return (click 'help', then back... or something), the banking question goes away and voila, you're done.

From that point on, all you ever need to use is your new magic US PayPal account. Use it for Netflix, Spotify, Hulu.. whatever :)

I wish I had created one ages ago, instead of battling with overseas region-locked subscriptions every time I tried to pay for one :D

Thanx man!

I saw Hulu vouchers on ebay.com as well. Wont that be easier than the whole paypal thing?
 
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Thanx man!

I saw Hulu vouchers on ebay.com as well. Wont that be easier than the whole paypal thing?

Not necessarily easier, and probably more expensive. You'd have to keep coming back to buy vouchers, and can't be guaranteed they'd be the same price every time.

Once you set up a US PayPal account once, you never have to worry again for any overseas payments.
 
I can vouch for the US Paypal method - I used Entropay to create a virtual Visa card (completely legit) and just topped it up with enough for a few months of Hulu Plus. Also using UnoDNS.

So far both Hulu and Netflix work great on Xbox and PS3, on a 2Mb Mweb line (although the PS3 seems to have a slight edge on the Xbox for quality in Netflix). You can always just trial the services (including UnoDNS) to see if you are happy paying monthly.
 
Multiple people have said that Netflix in HD looks crap on xbox.

Get a PS3 or WD TV Live
 
Can't vouch for the Roku 3, never used one :P

Paying for Hulu is a headache unless you create a new US PayPal accout (with a false US address / phone number) and link it to your S.A. credit card. When it asks for your banking details for verification, just navigate away from the page and return (click 'help', then back... or something), the banking question goes away and voila, you're done.

From that point on, all you ever need to use is your new magic US PayPal account. Use it for Netflix, Spotify, Hulu.. whatever :)

I wish I had created one ages ago, instead of battling with overseas region-locked subscriptions every time I tried to pay for one :D

I'm using my SA Credit card on Hulu... it worked fine.
 
Necro!

So now that we have netflix in SA I would like to set it up on my xbox 360.

I'm unable to find the netflix app using the app browser or Bing? Am I being stupid?

I do not have an xbox gold account.

any ideas?
 
Nevermind, this evening when I turned on the console it was magically available.
 
I downloaded Netflix app on Xbox 360 - no problem. Launched the app and signed up - no problem. Watched some programs - no problem. Next day I wanted to watch some more but Netflix does not want to sign-in/launch. Keep on getting UI-122 error. Sometimes when I'm really patient I try a couple of times, then it works after a couple of tries. I now use my laptop to watch Netflix but would really be nice to get the Xbox app to work properly. I've contacted Netflix support and followed their instructions but it made no difference. Their last comment was that it might be something todo with my ISP or line. I only have a 2Mbps ADSL line but on my laptop it performs without any issues. Any suggestions?
 
I also had issues where I had to try multiple times to log in even to change profiles took a few tries. However this weekend there were no issues. We are also on a 2Mbps line (fnbconnect) and don't have any issues with our Android devices.

I'm now on the lookout for a good deal on a Android media player so that I only need one device for Netflix, Showmax and playing media from my NAS.

Sorry I don't have a solution just sharing my experience.

PS. It is just silly that we need to be signed into xbox live so that we can use netflix. :mad:
 
Thanks dade - at least I know now I'm not the only one. Please share your findings on a good Android media player :)
 
I have exactly the same issue on my 360. On my xbone it works 100%, so yea... Just as confused as you are.
 
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