

Ask HN: How will Comcast provide better service for Netflix content? - thrush

Comcast and Netflix recently struct a deal last week that will improve the quality of Netflix video streaming [1]. What I would like to know is how exactly will this work? I envision two scenarios, which I will explain in a very general sense.<p>1. Comcast detects Netflix network data and somehow gives it preferential treatment.<p>2. Comcast uses algorithms to predict which videos are most likely to be watched in specific regions, and store the relevant video data locally so that network calls are more efficient (aka caching). I think this would be similar to the service that InstartLogic provides.<p>Which (if any) of these scenarios are happening? If it is the second, it seems like a really exciting innovation, and the story should receive much more positive reception in the media that it currently has.<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;24&#x2F;business&#x2F;media&#x2F;comcast-and-netflix-reach-a-streaming-agreement.html?_r=0
http:&#x2F;&#x2F;instartlogic.com&#x2F;
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dhoulb
I think your metaphor is kinda off.

Don't think of it like a stream, where some of the water can be separated off
and filtered.

Think of it like a road system. All the roads between Netflix Town and Comcast
City have to go through Cogentville, and the roads are PACKED. Traffic is
crawling, really slow.

This deal is like opening a new six-Lane highway, direct from Netflix to
Comcast, that allows everyone to travel really fast and avoids all the
gridlock.

I don't think there was filtering before. I think Comcast just let the traffic
get really bad, and was stalling issuing permits for the new bypass.

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LarryMade2
How about 3, Comcast turns off whatever network throttling they have been
employing against Netflix identified content streams. Which would be the
inverse of 1. Comcast detects Netflix network data and does not give it
detrimental treatment.

There have been a few articles claiming Comcast is throttling the connection
when it knows it is coming from Netflix.

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sharth
Previously, Netflix was sending traffic to Comcast through Cogent. This
traffic had problems because the link between Comcast and Cogent was saturated
to such a degree that packets were dropping.

Today, Netflix now has their own connection to the Comcast network that is not
shared with Cogent.

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stonemetal
Netflix has paid to have Comcast connect to their CDN, open connect. The way
it works is you either host their hardware or you peer with them and they host
it themselves. It is probably the second option, direct connections to
netflix's network.

