How does your broadband provider stack up for Netflix viewing at prime-time
Virgin Media retains the No 1 slot in the latest Netflix ISP Speed Index for Ireland, while rivals BT and Eir swapped places during July 2016.
It is a pivotal time for broadband in Ireland, with more and more people relying on broadband for work and play.
One of the key services used by many is Netflix, the streaming media player that provides movies and TV shows to subscribers, which is used by 83m people in 190 countries.
Telcos trumpet hyper speeds, claiming to provide anything from 50Mbps up to 240Mbps, if you are fortunate to be living in a place that can actually get broadband, but Netflix measures the prime-time Netflix performance.
This is not a measure of overall performance for other services or data that may travel across a specific ISP network.
The Netflix ISP Speed Index lists the average prime-time bitrate for Netflix content streamed to Netflix members during a particular month. For prime time, Netflix calculates the average bitrate of Netflix content in megabits per second (Mbps) streamed by Netflix members per ISP. It measures the speed via all available end-user devices.
Netflix prime-time rankings in Ireland
Faster Netflix performance generally means better picture quality, quicker start times and fewer interruptions.
In the latest rankings, for July 2016, Eir and BT Ireland swapped places.
BT is now in third spot (2.9Mbps) while Eir in fourth (2.9Mbps).
Magnet is in second place with a 3.1Mbps prime-time Netflix streaming experience.
The No 1 position has been maintained by Virgin, with an average speed of 3.37Mbps for the Netflix prime-time streaming experience.
In the US, Verizon tops the table with prime-time Netflix speeds of 3.6Mbps, followed by Bright House at 3.59Mbps and Optimum with 3.55Mbps.
In the UK, Virgin once again tops the table with 3.72Mbps followed by BT in second place with 3.56Mbps and Plusnet with 3.31Mbps.
Broadband performance is key to Netflix’s bread and butter, enabling subscribers worldwide to watch more than 125m hours of TV shows and movies per day.
In May, Netflix launched a new speed measurement website called Fast.com. Once a user visits the site on desktop or mobile, it will automatically begin telling you what your broadband speed is.
Netflix image via Shutterstock
