Speed Limits
For Netflix
Q. Do you need to have a certain Internet connection speed to stream Netflix movies so they don't stop and start all the time?
A. Netflix recommends that you stream its movies over a broadband connection with a speed of at least 1.5 megabits per second (1.5Mbps). To get better-looking video on par with a DVD, the company recommends using an Internet connection of at least 3 megabits per second. If you are watching the video on a computer, you may want to check and make sure the machine can handle Netflix video streams; visit www.netflix.com/Help and search for "system requirements."
Slower connection speeds or a busy home network may cause streamed Netflix video to skip, stutter or frequently rebuffer to the point where it becomes too annoying to watch. If your connection speed meets the recommended requirements but your video is still sluggish, check that your network bandwidth is not being used for online gaming, file-sharing or additional video streaming by other people in the house.
If you are streaming the video over a wireless network connection, make sure your computer or Netflix device is getting a strong network signal. If you are using a Netflix-enabled set-top box for streaming video to the TV, connecting it directly to the home network router with an Ethernet cable instead of using a wireless connection may help.
Some residential broadband packages may provide download speeds of only 768 kilobits per second to 1 megabit per second. Check with your Internet provider to see what connection speed you are supposed to be getting -- or to inquire about an upgrade if you want the faster speed package to use Netflix. You can also check your connection speed yourself at sites like www.speedtest.net or www.speakeasy.net/speedtest.
Printing
From an iPad
Q. I want to use AirPrint to print from my iPad, but how do I know if my printer works with it?
A. Unless you have a fairly recent H.P. printer that specifically supports Apple's AirPrint technology, your printer probably does not work with native iPad printing. Fewer than two dozen models are currently AirPrint-compatible; Apple has a full list of them at support.apple.com/kb/ht4356.
Many of H.P.'s AirPrint-compatible printers are multifunction machines that can also print photos, copy documents and scan images. Prices start at around $90 for the lower-end models. To enable AirPrint, you may need to update the printer's own software before you can print documents from the iPad.
If you do not want to buy a new printer, the iPad's App Store is full of inexpensive apps that allow you to print from the tablet, even though the process may be a little more complicated than using AirPrint. Third-party shareware programs like AirPrint Activator, which let you print from an iPad to a shared printer, may also get the job done after some tinkering.
TIP OF THE WEEK If your picture-laden Microsoft PowerPoint presentation is getting too huge, you can whittle it down by reducing the size of the photos used in the file. If you do not want to use a photo-editing program to reduce each photo's size and resolution before inserting them back into the file, recent versions of PowerPoint can compress the images right in the file.
To put the squeeze on a photo, and hopefully save some space without compromising too much picture quality, select the picture and click the Format tab in the Office Ribbon. In the Adjust area of the Picture Tools box, click on Compress Pictures. You then get the option to compress the selected photo, or all the photos in the presentation. Microsoft has more information at tinyurl.com/2vxz8b5.
J. D. BIERSDORFER
Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology to QandA@nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.
First Published: March 17, 2011, 4:00 a.m.
