David Bridges
Quick summary
- Error Reports: Thousands of Netflix users experienced an NSEZ-403 error after the release of Stranger Things season 5.
- Downtime: The outage peaked at nearly 14,000 reports just before the episodes became available for streaming.
- Connection Issues: Affected viewers saw messages indicating trouble connecting to Netflix, prompting device switches.
- Future Episodes: After the initial four episodes, three additional episodes will be released on December 25, with the finale on December 31.
Netflix has crashed for thousands of viewers after the first four episodes of Stranger Things season 5 went live for streaming. Downdetector started getting an unusual number of outage reports at around 10 minutes before 8PM Eastern time, when the episodes were scheduled to hit the service. The numbers climbed up to almost 14,000 before they went down over the next few minutes.
According to Entertainment Weekly, affected viewers were getting an NSEZ-403 error, which means their accounts couldn’t connect to Netflix. They were seeing “Something went wrong” and “Sorry, we’re having trouble with your request” messages on their screens. For the NSEZ-403 error, in particular, Netflix advises switching to a different device. It’s worth noting that the show’s creator previously said that Netflix increased its bandwidth by 30 percent to avoid a crash for the season premier. The company has told Engadget that some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TVs, but that service has been restored for all accounts within 5 minutes.
In season 5 of Stranger Things, the Hawkins gang is set to face Vecna one last time. After these first four episodes, Netflix is dropping three more on December 25 and then the finale itself on December 31.
Update, Nov. 26, 2025, 10:35PM ET: This story has been updated to add the information Netflix shared with Engadget.
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