Netflix is bouncing second homes today

[LuvOrlando]

Just got notified, DH says all the others will do it too so we need to pick what we keep where instead of duplicates it is all so expensive.

Maybe it is a good time to go through subscriptions I guess, possible we have too many anyway there are some I rarely use.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Netflix allows a second home link

 

[fla4fun]

Just got notified, DH says all the others will do it too so we need to pick what we keep where instead of duplicates it is all so expensive.

Maybe it is a good time to go through subscriptions I guess, possible we have too many anyway there are some I rarely use.

It really is a shame that these streaming services haven’t figured out a way to determine if it is the account holder accessing the service, so it could be used wherever the account holder is. You would think that using something like third party verification when using a different IP address would work. If you are paying for a streaming service, you should be able to use it at your house, your friend’s house, a hotel, wherever you happen to be.

 

[traveler9]

VPN is your friend for situations like this.

 

[disneychrista]

I should ask my daughter if she has been able to use my Hulu now that’s she’s moved. I did warn here it may not let her.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I'm wondering which services will remain multi family friendly, to be honest it would be a good strategy for smaller companies with the big businesses creating an opening for them. The bigger ones are top heavy so it is a money grab, the smaller ones can probably just float and enjoy new memberships esp college families, I can't imagine how many are getting squeezed.

 

[tvguy]

We bounced Netflix two years ago.

 

[_19disnA]

I think Netflix created this problem when they allowed (or quietly encouraged) you to 'share' your password with other family members.

 

[NotUrsula]

This is going to be a problem for Marriott hotel brands. Several years ago they switched their TV services to prefer having guests stream via their own accounts. If they are going to block anything but the geo area where the account is registered, that will be a serious problem for the chain to have to correct for.

PS: I think the simple solution is that they should forget about trying to police locations and just change the price structure entirely so that users pay for "seats", that is, X number of allowable connected devices at once via separate passwords, and it shouldn't matter where those devices are. If you only want to buy one seat, then you buy one, if you want to buy 5 (presumably the price per each would decrease the more you buy), then you could do that. If you want to watch on your TV, your laptop, your tablet, your phone, anywhere from Tulsa to Timbuktu, no issue as long as you are only logged in on one of them at a time. If you have a spouse and past-tiny-kid children, regardless of age, then your household would probably buy 4 seats, one for each person, and each person has an individual password. (Research databases have been sold this way for decades; it's a simple system, because even if someone decides to share their username/pw, only one connection can be made at a time with that account. Having multiple phone lines on a wireless plan is a similar system, but in that case it's tied to a device rather than a person.) This system also would allow parents to continue to carry their college-aged kids on their accounts until they decide otherwise.

I don't think too many people with a single-seat account would be sharing their password with unrelated people in other households, because then they would have to schedule which household got to watch at any given time.

 

[sam_gordon]

This is going to be a problem for Marriott hotel brands. Several years ago they switched their TV services to prefer having guests stream via their own accounts. If they are going to block anything but the geo area where the account is registered, that will be a serious problem for the chain to have to correct for.

I'm going to assume they will allow "temporary" usage (such as in a hotel), maybe for a week(?). Some Hilton branded hotels have the same TV service.

 

[BrianL]

I'm going to assume they will allow "temporary" usage (such as in a hotel), maybe for a week(?). Some Hilton branded hotels have the same TV service.

They do. If they think it's not you or you are in an unknown location, they send a code to your phone to authorize it. Theoretically the authorized account holder is there to be watching it, though a friend could easily authorize it for you. I mean, not that I would condone that....

 

[Imzadi]

I think this has more to do with Netflix being used at 2 different locations at the same time. If you are traveling, supposedly, you are not still watching it at your first location.

It really is a shame that these streaming services haven’t figured out a way to determine if it is the account holder accessing the service, so it could be used wherever the account holder is. You would think that using something like third party verification when using a different IP address would work. If you are paying for a streaming service, you should be able to use it at your house, your friend’s house, a hotel, wherever you happen to be.

There is technology for that already. When I want, I can look at my Gmail account to see when, where and what kind of device is accessing it. It lists the IP address(es) using it.

I have different Gmail accounts. If I'm logged out of one account for a long time, and then log into it from a new or unknown device, I get a security alert on my normal device asking if that is me before letting the new log in access?

My banks and stock accounts always ask extra security questions, as I never allow my computer to be registered as my normal device. I'm not talking about 2-step verification. I get a notice that I'm not on my "usual" computer, even though I am. I just don't let them register the computer as my "usual" one. (I'm concerned that a remote hacker may gain access to my computer and be able to get into my accounts that way.)

Netflix probably has the same technology now, if they are cracking down on secondary location usages.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is going to be a problem for Marriott hotel brands. Several years ago they switched their TV services to prefer having guests stream via their own accounts. If they are going to block anything but the geo area where the account is registered, that will be a serious problem for the chain to have to correct for.

Netflix already said traveling isn't going to be a primary issue.

We just used our Netflix account streamed via the phone and Chromecast to the tv in Sweden a little over a week ago at a Hyatt hotel (it was actually kinda nice for the hotel to have the Chromecast option readily there). However we were geo-blocked by ESPN from watching Formula 1 racing. That, while annoying, is more understandable as happening more frequently due to licensing rights on sporting events being typically more stringent.

 

[fla4fun]

Netflix already said traveling isn't going to be a primary issue.

We just used our Netflix account streamed via the phone and Chromecast to the tv in Sweden a little over a week ago at a Hyatt hotel (it was actually kinda nice for the hotel to have the Chromecast option readily there). However we were geo-blocked by ESPN from watching Formula 1 racing. That, while annoying, is more understandable as happening more frequently due to licensing rights on sporting events being typically more stringent.

It is great when the hotels are already set up to facilitate travelers. I agree that they probably won’t hassle people on vacation, but I am sure at some point they will set a time limit, whether two weeks or a month or a set amount of time in one place.

When I think of problems, I am thinking of people who may have more than two homes, and spend several months in each one. For example, say you are a snowbird, with a home in Connecticut and a home in Florida, who also is sharing parent caretaking with their siblings so they spend a few months a year at their parent’s home in North Carolina as well. I think that may trigger a second look from Netflix, where if they had an easy system in place to verify account ownership it wouldn’t be an issue for Netflix or the customer.

I don’t have Netflix, or any paid streaming service, so I don’t have a personal stake in it either way. But I have heard that people who have multiple homes are having some problems and it doesn’t seem fair to me when they are paying for the service.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It is great when the hotels are already set up to facilitate travelers. I agree that they probably won’t hassle people on vacation, but I am sure at some point they will set a time limit, whether two weeks or a month or a set amount of time in one place.

When I think of problems, I am thinking of people who may have more than two homes, and spend several months in each one. For example, say you are a snowbird, with a home in Connecticut and a home in Florida, who also is sharing parent caretaking with their siblings so they spend a few months a year at their parent’s home in North Carolina as well. I think that may trigger a second look from Netflix, where if they had an easy system in place to verify account ownership it wouldn’t be an issue for Netflix or the customer.

I don’t have Netflix, or any paid streaming service, so I don’t have a personal stake in it either way. But I have heard that people who have multiple homes are having some problems and it doesn’t seem fair to me when they are paying for the service.

Netflix covers that:


Random aside here but when I was at the insurance company it was prohibited for that insurance company to insure two homes (a primary and secondary or primary and vacation and also they would not insure the secondary or vacation home without insuring the primary home) when they were located close too each other (usually within the same state but in cases where someone lives near the border of another state that was taken into consideration) unless it was able to be deduced that the secondary or vacation home was something like a lake house or a city house. I only mention that because Netflix isn't trying to get after people who have that dual house just those who were having people use their account, the insurance company was attempting to insure true secondary and vacation homes as opposed to people who were using two homes within close proximity to each other for other reasons.

I get the whole controversy about the issue with Netflix especially as Netflix in the past publicized sharing. There is probably some logistical kinks that aren't as straightforward as Netflix's help page for frequent enough usage at another repeated location.

 

[sheilafri]

So I signed up for Netflix at my second home, but have since returned to my primary residence. I haven’t noticed anything different. Am I missing something? I’m dropping it in a week anyway as I don’t watch as much TV in the summer.

 

[HannaBelle]

My daughter has been blocked for a few weeks, but her app works fine when she comes to visit. I guess she will have to come and see me more often!