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Deftone
Deftone
New Member
November 1, 2013
Question

Netflix

  • November 1, 2013
  • 10 replies
  • 34074 views
Helo all, I' m having problems to watch movies on netflix while web filter enabled. I added some netflix urls to the url filter but it' s not working When I hit play in netflix I get an error. When I disable web filter in the policy it' s working like charm. Someone any idea how to get this to work? The url filter 
                    edit " *netflix.com"                   set type wildcard                  next                  edit " *nflximg.com"                       set type wildcard                  next                  edit " *llnwd.net"                       set type wildcard                  next                  edit " *nflximg.net"                       set type wildcard                  next
Thanks

    10 replies

    vanc
    vanc
    New Member
    November 2, 2013
    So you wanted to turn on web filter, but Netflix somehow stopped working for you. Then you added Netflix URLs to bypass them? You need to check the web filter log and see if Netflix related URLs are blocked. If nothing shows up, I might assume that you are using proxy based webfilter profiles which has poor compatibility with streaming. Delete all your Netfilter URLs and change the web filter profile mode from proxy to flow based and see if it works for you. I' ve no issue with this setup.
    Bromont_FTNT
    Staff
    Bromont_FTNT
    Staff
    November 4, 2013
    SSL inspection turned on? Anything Netflix will need to be exempted from SSL inspection, or create another firewall policy above this one with destination FQDN/IP addresses for all the Netflix sites you can identify
    Deftone
    DeftoneAuthor
    New Member
    November 7, 2013
    Thanks for the reply' s. I try to change proxy to flow based but with no succes. I don' t use SSL inspection so that can not be the problem. This problem is only occuring when I try to watch Netflick on my iPad or iPhone When I use Macbook that is on the same segment I have no problem. When I disable URL filter I can also watch Netflix oniPad or Iphone
    Bromont_FTNT
    Staff
    Bromont_FTNT
    Staff
    November 7, 2013
    Would probably need to see your UTM profiles etc... are you using AV?
    Deftone
    DeftoneAuthor
    New Member
    November 7, 2013
    I don' t use any other UTM only WebFiltering. These profile is the only utm that is enabled on the policy
    vanc
    vanc
    New Member
    November 8, 2013
    You need to check your log and see which URLs were blocked, then add them to exempt list.
    Victor
    Victor
    New Member
    November 19, 2013
    Considering that the webfilter list is a very CPU intensive process, I would rather have Fortinet address the issue. I can confirm that smartphones & tablets are blocked with a web filter policy but that traditional PCs/Macs are not. My guess is that the javascript that identifies the device and defines the method of interacting with Netflix invokes something in the mobile devices that the Fortigate does not like. I created a special policy for my tablet and with UTM disabled, everything works. As for looking at the logs, there was nothing of netflix blocked. There were a lot of facebook entries, which turned out to be the facebook app working as a background process. By the way, the youtube app and crackle app work fine.
    Bromont_FTNT
    Staff
    Bromont_FTNT
    Staff
    November 19, 2013
    Victor, are you having the same issues as Deftone?
    Victor
    Victor
    New Member
    November 20, 2013
    Yes, was having the same issue as Deftone. Working with Fortinet we isolated the problem. If you have " Web Resume Download Block" checked in the Web Filter profile for the policy, uncheck it. Netflix will then work. It seems the tablet & smartphone apps buffer the stream in downloded chunks rather then manage it as a continuous stream.
    mreveraert
    mreveraert
    New Member
    June 3, 2019

    This is an update to an old post, but to watch Netflix streaming content behind a Fortigate FortiOS 6.2 (possibly earlier) the Fortigate Inspection Mode to be in FLOW mode (Policy & Objects, IPV4) rather than proxy.  Curiously some services e.g mobile and browser will work in proxy mode, but others e.g. Netflix apps on Roku Player, Sky Q box, ... will not work.  The symptom is that the content appears to be loading (spinning wheel) and at 24% (in my case) an error pops up "We're having trouble playing this title right now. Please try again later or select a different title."    Setting my Fortigate back to Flow solved the problem.

    jaefal990
    jaefal990
    New Member
    October 14, 2024

    Could you provide more details about the current web filtering system you are using (e.g., brand, version, specific configuration)? Have you ensured that all necessary Netflix domains and subdomains are whitelisted, including those related to media streaming and content delivery networks (CDNs)? Additionally, are there any specific error codes or messages Netflix displays when you attempt to play a movie? It might also help to know if the issue occurs across all devices or just specific ones (e.g., mobile, desktop), and if there are any SSL inspection or decryption rules in place that might be interfering with Netflix's encrypted traffic

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