Netflix went down for thousands of viewers only shortly after the first four episodes of "Stranger Things" Season 5 went live.
During the brief outage, Downdetector reported that there were almost 14,000 outage notifications from the complaining viewers.
Netflix's NSEZ-403 Error Upsets Fans
Affected viewers reported seeing error messages like "Something went wrong" and "Sorry, we're having trouble with your request," specifically encountering the NSEZ-403 error. That error, according to Entertainment Weekly, means that an account wasn't able to connect to Netflix.
The streaming giant suggests that one possible fix might be to switch to a different device. Despite the fact that the platform had taken precautions, including increasing bandwidth by 30 percent for the Season 5 premiere, the surge in demand briefly overwhelmed streaming on some devices.
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Quick Recovery Restores Streaming
Netflix confirmed to Engadget that the issue mainly hit TV streams, but service was completely restored within five minutes. The short-lived outage, though small, actually demonstrated the record amount of anticipation and huge demand for the new season, hinting at Stranger Things' international popularity.
Season 5 Plot Teases Final Showdown
"Stranger Things" Season 5 starts off with the Hawkins gang going head-on against Vecna in a slew of early episodes. Fans are in for a nail-biting and action-packed story with the first four episodes setting up the stage for the final chapters.
Netflix plans to release the final three episodes on Dec. 25 and the series finale on Dec. 31, touting that the popular series will end with a bang. This would be the best gift before 2025 ends for "ST" fans.
What Fans Can Do During Outages
Netflix recommends that viewers who experience the NSEZ-403 error do the following: switch devices, restart the app, or check for updates on the streaming platform.
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