Netflix Speed on Comcast Network Improves 65%

In the US, the average speed on the Comcast network for Netflix streams grew 65 percent, from 1.51 Mbps in January 2014 to 2.5 Mbps in March 2014, after the two firms agreed to interconnect directly.



Though speed and packet delay are two different issues, it arguably is the case that unpredictable packet arrival times cause more quality disruption of video streams than absolute bandwidth. 



Direct connections, caching and use of content delivery networks are a few of the standard ways ISPs and app providers work to ensure better end user experience. 



New proposed Federal Communications Commission network neutrality rules intend to allow voluntary commercial agreements between ISPs and app providers to extend content delivery networks all the way to the end user, where today CDNs operate over the backbone networks, but not in the access network.



The boost in Netflix performance on Comcast, after the direct connection, suggests that such techniques do matter, especially for voice and video services.