Only way to detect if there is any throttling I would think would be if you had say 2 ISP's and 2 computers, and say one was DSL and the other was Cable Broadband, and you figured out your maximum bandwidth to be lets say 5mbps for both with a 1mbps upload to be exact. You then perform a bandwidth test between computer #1 and Netflix with DSL and then a test between computer #2 and Netflix with Cable Broadband and compare for the same show watched at the same time.
While this is imperfect, its probably the closest you could get to detecting throttling. One big problem with this would be if both ISPs throttled the same... you would end up with no difference between them. Other problem is that there are many other factors that can slow down the communications and make it act as if its throttled when it is not. This would be ifone ISP had more traffic conjestion between you and netflix than the other. This conjestion would increase latency and could appear as if your being throttled. However if the test was done multiple times and some different results were detected then it could be assumed that it ws caused by conjestion and not caused by intentional throttling.
Personally I haven't had any issues with throttling detected with my ISP. I actually have a 5/1 internet speed package and the 5/1 is plenty. I have my router flashed with DD-WRT and so I have QoS set to control how much bandwidth each device can consume when other priority of service devices are active. Such as when my Vonage VoIP phone is in use, it gets 1m/384k allocated to it which = clear non choppy phone calls while others are downloading and streaming content at the same time. I also have my Sony Blu-Ray/Streaming Player set to a minimum bandwidth of 3mbps/384k. And this leaves 1mbps/256k allocated for all other computers for downloading and online games etc.
Prior to this QoS setting if you were downloading a new Linux Distro which was say 4.3GB in size and someone else was watching Netflix and another was using the phone, the phone would have choppy audio, netflix would buffer regularly, and the 1 system downloading that distro was being a bandwidth hog.
Now with QoS configured for priority of service for specific devices everything works in harmony. And if no one is using the Sony Blu-Ray Streaming Player and no one is using the phone, then I have 5mbps/1mbps for my system.
Generally though unless I am really eager to get a distro or large 15GB installation video game, I save these downloads now for something for my system to download when I am sleeping so I set it, go to bed, and when I wake its completed and ready to burn to a DVD or to a flash drive or install or play the large game.
I use to have 25/5 for bandwidth, but the ISP was charging me $80 a month for this. I dropped to 5/1 for bandwidth to save about $35 a month since I realized that 5/1 was plenty with DD-WRT flashed and configured router to get by with less bandwidth and smart bandwidth allocations. They also have a lower bandwidth package to save even more money, but 5/1 is minimum for our needs.
Other factors to consider other than how much bandwidth you have is if you are connected via wireless instead of hard wired to the internet connection, if your wireless has issues and is causing Netflix to resync under a lesser resolution for the fact that it detects that you have lesser bandwidth to work with. With wireless in my home from the furthest point I get between 1 and 2 bars and so you will be watching content and notice that it will go from a sharp picture quality to a more grainy picture quality when watching
www.fox.com shows that are available for streaming. Yet when hard wired, the shows are always crystal clear and there is no resync under a lesser quality of video play on the fly. I saw this when watching the Sleepy Hollow TV Series on my laptop from my kitchen while making a large pan of ziti to bake up the one night.... Now hungry for ziti or pasta...LOL
Lastly, it seems as Netflix at times is overwhelmed for specific movies and shows. We tried to watch one popular movie the one night and it was constantly stopping and cartwheel buffering, yet when we went to another less popular movie it played flawlessly. So I thought maybe if I go back to the original movie it will be better now... NOPE, still too many people watching same movie and causing issues or the server that serves up that title was having issues. So for anyone reading this who thinks they are being throttled and they see a degradation in quality, a good test would be to play a less popular title and see if the quality is better. While its so easy to blame the ISP, it could be too many people trying to watch the same thing at the same time as I believe was the problem I experienced. Also at 1am I went back to this movie title and it played flawless as for everyone who was watching it earlier likely went to bed or was finished watching it by then.
Geek do you feel as if your being throttled with your ISP connection for netflix? If so who is your ISP and what do you have for bandwidth? Also is there any other people connected to your internet connection to kill the quality of service?
