Verizon denies throttling Netflix, Amazon speeds in Texas

By Mike Flacy February 6, 2014

verizon next gen tv — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Detailed by the Washington Post, Texas-based software engineer David Raphael published a blog post on Wednesday claiming that his Verizon FiOS connection was being throttled significantly when attempting to connect to Amazon Web Services. Specifically, Raphael did a speed test and discovered that his connection was running at 40 kBps when downloading content from Amazon Web Services. He had also noticed a significant loss in quality when attempting to stream Netflix movies, basically because Netflix Instant is powered by Amazon Web Services.

After successfully remotely testing his office’s connection at 5,000 kBps, Raphael got in touch with Verizon customer support. Speaking over an instant messenger chat window, the Verizon representative had Raphael run through a battery of tests and continued to claim that the connection was fine. After Raphael got frustrated with the situation, he started asking the representative if Verizon was throttling FiOS home connections when attempting to connect to cloud based services like Netflix. By the end of the conversation, the representative wrote that Verizon was “limiting bandwidth to cloud providers.”

Of course, the representative could have simply been attempting to end the conversation by agreeing with Raphael. After the blog post was published, Verizon representatives released a statement to the Washington Post that read “We treat all traffic equally, and that has not changed. Many factors can affect the speed of a customer’s experience for a specific site, including that site’s servers, the way the traffic is routed over the Internet and other considerations. We are looking into this specific matter, but the company representative was mistaken. We’re going to redouble our representative education efforts on this topic.”

Other speed tests that Raphael tried on Google and other sites went successfully. Only Amazon Web Services was being throttled, according to Raphael. This incident occurred shortly after D.C. Circuit court struck down a net neutrality ruling thus making it legal for Internet service providers to throttle the connection based on the visited site.

Editors' Recommendations

Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Netflix agree to throttle streaming quality in Europe

Topics

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Audio / Video

HD to 4K: these home theater projectors are up to $2,000 off

The Optoma UHD55 projector.

While TVs are great, if you want to have a large screen TV that goes over 80 inches, you're liable to spend thousands of dollars, and if you want to go over 100 inches, you may not even find any options at all, especially at the consumer level. Luckily, there are a lot of great projectors that can not only hit those targets but exceed them and do it at a much cheaper cost than a regular TV. Even better, there is quite a big sale right now at Crutchfield on home theater projectors, with everything from budget-friendly options to top-of-the-range stuff.

What you should buy in Crutchfield's projector sale
Not all projectors have to be incredibly expensive, and you can grab a great project for a good price with the Optoma HZ40HDR, which is , saving you a solid $450 in the process. It's an FHD projector, although it can handle 4k and HDR sources, and the bulb has a 30,000-hour life span, which is pretty great for a budget-oriented projector. On the other hand, if you want 4k, Optomo has a good budget option for that too, the Optoma UHD35STx, which is a 4k short-throw projector with HDR10 and HLG HDR going , which isn't a massive discount on the usual $1,549, but it's still pretty good.

Audio / Video

Best AirPods Max deals: New and refurbished for $440

A woman wearing the Apple AirPods Max.

Shopping the best headphone deals will turn up a number of options from a wide variety of headphone brands, but if you’re interested in what Apple has to offer in terms of premium audio, the Apple AirPods Max are where you’ll want to turn. The AirPods Max are Apple’s top-of-the-line headphones, and while they churn out some impressive audio experiences, they also churn out a hefty price point. With the rumors of AirPods Max 2 going on you’ll be able to find some decent AirPods Max deals out there. We’ve done that hefty lifting for you, however, and have laid out the best AirPods Max deals below. You’ll find deals on both new and refurbished AirPods Max, but click quickly if one of these deals works for you, as Apple deals can be unpredictable and we don’t know how long these will last.
AirPods Max -- $519, were $549

The AirPods Max are Apple's first attempt at a set of over-the-ear headphones. They got a lot of things right. We love these headphones, even when compared against some audiophile options that prioritize sound quality. The AirPods Max have awesome noise cancelling. Everything Apple learned with the earbud-style AirPods works even better with the cup style of the AirPods Max. Along with great ANC comes a great transparency mode. With a twist of the Max's massive knob, you'll go from complete silence to feeling like you're not wearing headphones at all. The audio on phone calls is great as well, and they pair better with the iPhone than any non-Apple headphones could ever hope to.

Audio / Video

Best AirPods Pro deals: Get Apple’s flagship earbuds for $122

The Apple Airpods Pro in their charging case.

Apple’s lineup of headphones has grown over the years. It currently makes a number of AirPods models that can be talked about among the best wireless earbuds. Among them are the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro are regularly in contention to be among the best headphones overall as well, and because of their popularity it can be difficult to track down AirPods Pro deals worth shopping. We’ve managed to find some out there, however, and below we’ve rounded up all of the best AirPods Pro deals you can shop right now. You’ll find discounts on both new and refurbished AirPods Pro models, as well as some information on why each model might be best for you.
Apple AirPods Pro (Refurbished) — $122, was $220

While there’s a newer model of AirPods Pro available, the first generation Apple AirPods Pro can still hold their own against some of the best wireless earbuds. Made for a slightly more premium user than something like the Apple AirPods 3, the AirPods Pro have higher end features, including active noise cancellation and a transparency mode, which allows you to hear and interact with the world around you while you have the headphones on. Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking is another impressive feature. This makes watching movies and other content a truly immersive experience. This refurbished model of the Apple AirPods Pro comes with free 30-day returns and a 1-year warranty.