OpenDNS interferes with SmartTV access to NetFlix - Page 2

gerrym52 · ‎02-18-2015

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 Called Netflix, they checked it out and after about 20 minutes said 'your Netflix app' on the Samsung TV is out of date and needs to be updated, and Samsung will have to help you do that.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!

niteshdw · ‎06-14-2015

I am having this same problem with my FireTV. I switched my router's DNS to OpenDNS. I have OpenDNS set with NO filtering, NO blacklist, and all security settings disabled. Should work exactly the same as regular DNS right?

Well, the Netflix app says it cannot find any Netflix servers and cannot even verify that there's an internet connection.

As soon as I switch the DNS back to my ISP (Comcast), the app works just fine. Switch back to OpenDNS, app stops working completely.

rotblitz · ‎06-15-2015

"I have OpenDNS set with NO filtering, NO blacklist, and all security settings disabled."

But this is in effect only, if your correct IP address is registered with your network at https://dashboard.opendns.com/settings/
Else you may be using someone else's settings.

"Should work exactly the same as regular DNS right?" - In principle, yes.

niteshdw · ‎06-15-2015

Yes, my IP is correctly registered and I know it's working because when I manually add "youtube.com" to the blacklist, youtube gets blocked.

rotblitz · ‎06-15-2015

Good, then your blocked domains list at https://dashboard.opendns.com/stats/all/blockeddomains should be totally empty (except from your YouTube experiment).

To find out what the problem is, one would need to know the domain names being used by the Netflix app to investigate further. E.g. to see if and why OpenDNS doesn't resolve these domain names. They use so many domain names and CDNs...

No matter, these domains relating to Netflix should be listed under https://dashboard.opendns.com/stats/all/topdomains somewhere.

If you don't have success with resolving your problem, best would be to open a support ticket, so that OpenDNS staff can look into it.

pdrkwatkins · ‎07-25-2015

Has anyone been able to resolve this issue and get Netflix to work on a 2014 Samsung Smart TV while using OpenDNS? I have spent hours talking to Samsung, Netflix, my internet provider and my router company-- all to no avail. I still can't use Netflix with OpenDNS operating. It is only my Samsung Smart TV that has an issue. I can use Netflix fine on the older tv in my bedroom.

Any ideas???

pdrkwatkins · ‎07-25-2015

We discovered today that we can ignore the netflix app on our 2014 Samsung Smart (stupid) TV and access Netflix by using a blue-ray DVD player with internet access. Netflix worked great going through the dvd player and onto the TV! So, apparently there is a problem with the Netflix app on the 2014 Samsung Smart TVs not being compatible with OpenDNS. I spent at least 6 hours on the phone with all the equipment providers trying to solve this. UGH! My husband thought of trying the DVD Player. Brilliant!! Hope this helps someone.

mattwilson9090 · ‎07-26-2015

Apps on smartphones, tablets, smartTV's and many other devices can deliver similar functionality but behind the scenes be programmed very differently, including hard-code domain names that may vary by app or device. Generally support techs do not know what domain names are hard-coded into the apps, and it's unlikely that anyone on here is going to have the same configuration of hardware, software, and firmware that you are using who would also know what domains are being accessed. Therefore, as has been said several times in this thread already, what you need to do is looking at what your own OpenDNS settings are, including categories and domains blocked, as well as what domains are blocked in your stats. For a service such as Netflix it's very likely that a CDN is being accessed, so it's possibly that you'll have to work through a chain of domain names, whitelisting each of them in turn until you get everything approved, or removing the blocking for a category that is causing many of your issues.

Instead of spending all that time on the phone with providers why didn't you just follow the advice listed in this and similar threads here in this forum to solve the issue instead of sidestepping it?

lucky2010 · ‎11-18-2015

I had the same issue and it seems that when I unchecked the Video Sharing box, waited the 3 minutes and the servers caught up Netflix works again, I then just added domains to block since I only wanted a few blocked anyway. It was frustrating, but Video Sharing checked on a Samsung TV and Netflix will not work, uncheck wait 3 minutes and bingo working again.

rotblitz · ‎11-19-2015

Weird, Netflix is not categorized as Video Sharing, but as Movies. https://domain.opendns.com/netflix.com
Did you mean this category instead?

cstephany · ‎03-13-2016

I had the same problem on my Samsung Curve Smart TV, it was quickly fixed by netflix by telling me to change the Eco Solution, go go System then Eco Solution and finally to Energy Saving and Disable the option, it makes the tv take a bit more to turn on but I have not had the problem resuming the shows or starting new ones like I had before with the error "We're having trouble playing this file right now. Please try again later or select a different file".

Hope it works for you

Cheers mate

gerrym52 · ‎03-17-2016

As the original poster in this thread, my setup has always had Energy Saving = disabled yet I still occasionally receive similar error messages. The error went fairly dormant for a while and is not as prolific as it once was. But what I have noticed is when it does occur the NetFlix app reloads and then operates correctly the very next time and all continues without further errors. I have my setup network manually configured and point the lookups to 208.67.222.220. We also stream from Amazon and YouTube and have no issues.

gargantubrain · ‎02-02-2017

For me it was either Adware or Web Spam that broke Netflix. 3 minutes after I unchecked those two categories, I could watch Netflix movies again. I will test Netflix on my Samsung SmartTV's when I get home tonight.

gerrym52 · ‎02-02-2017

Interesting gargantubrain. I have had these same to categories checked, however I've not experienced this same failure mode in a few months. The failure mode I see now (Samsung curved 65) is that Netflix will acknowledge there is some problem, but that is only evidenced by a completely automatic reload of itself without any action by me. Then Netflix works. Every time. This is better than back when I first started this thread but still annoying. I believe it is the Netflix app as it is being run on this series of a Samsung box. I have a Tivo with Netflix, its network is configured the same way and using OpenDNS for lookups. I have never had anything other than seamless Netflix on the Tivo. So I am hesitant to say this is any issue with DNS since my Tivo has never experienced any issues with Netflix. WTH?

gargantubrain · ‎02-03-2017

Confirmed, my 32" and 40" Samsung SmartTV both worked fine in Netflix when I tested them yesterday. My 32" has the old style remote, the 40" has the new smart remote with a Home button, so AFAIK my 4K 40" is running the same apps as your curved 65.

So while it sucks it can't help block more Adware and Web Spam, at least it can help keep meatspin popping up on the kids' tablets.

For anyone trying to figure out why their own Netflix is having issues, here is the complete list of categories I have blocked. Note that I also added services.wmdrm.windowsmedia.com to "Never Block" as mentioned by "SonicConor" earlier in this thread.

Academic Fraud, Alcohol, Drugs, Lingerie/Bikini, Sexuality, Hate/Discrimination, Tasteless, Dating, German Youth Protection, Nudity, Pornography

rotblitz · ‎02-03-2017

"I also added services.wmdrm.windowsmedia.com to "Never Block" as mentioned by "SonicConor" earlier in this thread."

Why did you do it? Was it being blocked by your OpenDNS settings? As I said above already, with the categories blocked by you it should not be needed to whitelist this one.

Also, you do not need to unblock Adware and Web Spam. You only indentify the domains being used from your blocked domains stats and whitelist only those being used by Netflix.