AVS Forum banner

HELP! Windows Media Center Netflix plugin devices no longer allowed by netflix?????

6K views 32 replies 12 participants last post by  Mike_Boulanger 
#1 ·
I reformatted one of my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 HTPCs tonight like I have done a million other times and when I launch media center and choose netflix and attempt to log in I get this error:


YOU PLAN DOES NOT ALLOW INSTANT WATCHING.


I know my plan does because I have another HTPC in another room that we use all the time that is still functioning.


I fire up a laptop(also W7 Ultimate x64) that has never attempted to log in to netflix and I try and launch netflix from media center and log in and get the same error.


I typed in an incorrect password on purpose to see if I would get a different error and I do get a different error about invalid login credentials so I know that it is authenticating against netflix servers properly.


It appears that netflix is blocking new windows media center devices from using the streaming plugin.


At this point I call netflix and I am told flat out that netflix no longer supports the media center plugin. After some frustrating conversation I ask to speak to manager who reiterated that netflix has nothing to do with that plugin and they no longer support it and that I need to use a web browser. I explained to them that it is working fine on one of our HTPCs and that 2 other devices that I have attempted to use give that error. I explained that when I type in a wrong password it gives me a different error so the problem appears to be on netflix end.


They flat out refused to help and insisted that I was not accessing netflix properly and that the media center plugin is not supported at all and nobody uses it... thats when I just hung up on them.


What the heck is going on? anyone else have this problem using the media center netflix plugin on a fresh install of windows recently?


All of my windows licenses are legit and I have done this literally dozens of times so I know I am not doing anything wrong. It really does appears that netflix has blocked this feature. I am looking for confirmation. This only appears to affect NEW windows 7 media center setups.
 
See less See more
#27 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike_Boulanger /forum/post/20605039


Sounds like your account is somehow messed up. If I were you I'd threaten to cancel and/or simply cancel your old account and create a new one.

I did threaten that. they said feel free to cancel and sign up under another account. thats what I will probably have to do if I ever need to reformat any devices from here on out.


I was just disappointed in the lack of customer service and how rude they were.
 
#28 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by sycochkn /forum/post/20605633


Are you using the same email address as a login in more than one account?

different email address was used for the trial account that worked fine. i don't think you can have 2 accounts under 1 email address.
 
#29 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by sethhobrin /forum/post/0



many of us use remotes with HTPCs on our TV and opening up a web browser is kind of a pain nor do the stop, pause, etc buttons with most remotes work with the silverlight plugin.


this is a very sad day for me and just about ruins my entire home setup.

I didn't say anything about using a browser. All my comments were about hardware players. I understand this may not be feasible with a lot of TVs to support. My point is that I would rather do Netflix streaming from a console or roku player even if it meant having to watch it from a different TV in the house because the quality is so much better. It isn't a small difference either. One looks like a low res YouTube video while the other is DVD quality or better.


The bottom line is that Silverlight sucks for video playback, and it isn't exclusive to Netflix streaming. Hopefully Microsoft will do something about it, and come out with a better plugin that Netflix will support and more people will want to use.


BTW, I am not trying to be unsympathetic toward your problem. Hopefully you will get it sorted out without too much hassle. It sounds like the suggestion of canceling and opening a new account is your best option. Maybe you can refer your other email address and get a free month out of it.
. Or is the referer the only one that gets a free month?
 
#30 ·

Quote:
I did threaten that. they said feel free to cancel and sign up under another account. thats what I will probably have to do if I ever need to reformat any devices from here on out.

If it's any consolation, I have Netflix for WMC setup on 4 or 5 PCs, and just replaced 2 of them in the past month and was able to add Netflix without issue. So, that's potentially 7 Netflix for WMC device activations - no issues so far.


Also, my Neflix for WMC PCs DO show up on my Netflix device list as just normal PCs.


On another note, I can confirm that there used to be a device limitaiton that I was hitting due to too many devices accessing Netflix, but the limit must have increased because I haven't had an issue in months and my device list shows 14 devices (some no longer being used).


Between my iPhone and iPad, my wife's iPhone, my stepson's iPhone, our 4 Windows Media Center PCs, my son's Xbox 360, etc... a 6 device limitation is too stringent for a family of users. Glad to see they increased this.


In any case, hopefully there's just a screw up in your account and cancelling/signing up will fix it since they obviously can't.


Good luck.
 
#31 ·

Quote:
How the hell do I get netflix to UNJACK my main account... this is ridiculous. its obvious they have some hard limit on the number of media center plugins they will register under and account and these devices DO NOT show up on the list of activated devices so it must be hidden somewhere on the back end somewhere.

This makes me feel like something is mucked with your account, because my Media Center PCs do show up in my device list as standard PCs.
 
#32 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike_Boulanger /forum/post/20607388


This makes me feel like something is mucked with your account, because my Media Center PCs do show up in my device list as standard PCs.

are you sure they aren't just showing up becuase at one point you use your web browser on that PC to access netflix?


In any case it appears my account is just jacked. I know i'm not alone though. I have a thread on technet forums and have found 2 other people that have the same issue trying to use new devices.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top