OpenDNS interferes with SmartTV access to NetFlix

[gerrym52]

My apologies if this topic is covered here.  My searches using the forum search engine did not return specific relevant info.

I have had been using my annual subscription OpenDNS account for a number of years, occasionally run into a snag that is easily cleared.   I have been using NetFlix streaming with no issue all those years, on a Tivo and a Samsung BluRay player. 

Just purchased a 2014 model Samsung SmartTV.  Its Netflix app complains when I try to stream any title, and says:  "We're having trouble playing this file right now.  Please try again later or select a different file".

Went through a ton of dead end Google leads.  Called Netflix, they checked it out and after about 20 minutes said 'your Netflix app' on the Samsung TV is out of date and needs to be updated, and Samsung will have to help you do that.

Called Samsung, they ran through a few things with me, and came up empty till... we edited the network settings to manually select DNS.  They wanted to point it to Google at 8.8.8.8.   Okay for tests... I'm okay with that.

That DNS change allowed Netflix to work correctly.    Hmmm...  put netflix.com in my 'always allowed', waited a good 15 minutes, reset the dhcp dns pointer, and Netflix was broken again.   Put dns back to 8.8.8.8 and all is fine again.

Any thoughts about what else I may need to adjust in my content filters here on OpenDNS?

Thanks!

[gargantubrain]

Honestly just because I haven't spent more than a few minutes on it. I put the DNS entries in my router, tested NetFlix, found it wasn't working, googled this thread, put the never block entry in, didn't fix NetFlix, unckecked the Adware and Web Spam categories, NetFlix worked, posted here.

I really do appreciate your input, I hope I didn't give any impression to the contrary. When I have more time, if I'm understanding correctly, I should go ahead and check the Adware and Web Spam boxes again, then try NetFlix on all my devices, then go review my Stats for Requests that were Blocked, and "Never Block" those... Repeat until NetFlix works again. In that way I keep the benefit of blocking more junk without breaking NetFlix.

[rotblitz]

"put the never block entry in, didn't fix NetFlix, unckecked the Adware and Web Spam categories, NetFlix worked, posted here."

Well, in this case it wasn't worth posting here, because everything was said and was known already, right?  Especially as you said "So while it sucks it can't help block more Adware and Web Spam", it was not really something useful in addition.

I pointed out what should be the case to make it more useful.

[lan12]

I had this problem for the past few weeks...Netflix seems to have randomly stopped working on all of my devices (Nexus Player, FireTV Stick, Wii). This fix worked for me: Some of these steps might not be necessary...but this is exactly what I did to get Netflix to work again.

1. I uninstalled Netflix from my device.
2. I added services.wmdrm.windowsmedia.com (apparently to allow silverlight to work?) and Netflix.com to my "never block" sites in Open DNS. (https://login.opendns.com/?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdashboard.opendns.com%2Fsettings%2F42278486%2Fcontent_filtering)
3. I turned off Open DNS completely (on my router there is a toggle switch for this).
4. I reinstalled and opened Netflix on my device...and waited until it worked.
5. I turned on Open DNS again (on the router).

[rotblitz]

@lan12

This is a duplicate of your other comment in a different thread.  Why this?

And again, whitelisting makes sense only in case something is actually blocked.  Blindly whitelisting is of no use, as most likely in your case.

According to the other thread "I reinstalled and opened Netflix on my device...and waited until it worked" was the solution, because Netflix had to change their app (and their DNS).  That is why it works again, not because of the other measures you took.

[lan12]

@rotblitz, thanks for your interest in hearing the logic on why and how I shared my solution.

I copied the comment to this thread because the issue was the same in both threads...and since my steps allowed me to solve the issue, I thought it might help someone else someday. Putting it in both threads will help people with the issue who find one thread, or the other, so they can try the solution that worked for me. Hopefully it will also work for them...because that was why I shared it.

The simple reinstallation of the app didn't work for me, so it is possible that your solution might not work for everyone who has a problem that presents itself in this way.

Despite your opinion to the contrary, I feel that OpenDNS was blocking something just prior to the login screen. I clearly stated that some of the steps I took, that worked, might not be necessary for others. Perhaps I should have been more clear: I haven't tested to see whether it was the whitelist items that allowed me to get in, or if it was the fact that I turned off OpenDNS temporarily. Or neither.