YouTube buffers to slowly for me.

[tofast4u]

Recently for the past couple of months Youtube has been very slow for me. Before I used to have Verizon DSL at 1Mb/s(124KB/s), and videos at 360p always loaded up fine without buffering. Of course 480p and 720p would take awhile to buffer. Now I have improved my internet speed to 7Mb/s connection with Verizon DSL still, and YouTube was working fine after that I was able to watch 720p without any buffering at all, the buffering bar would go fast and complete. But now for some reason videos are always slow, they usually start up fast but in a few amount of seconds, they randomly pause and rebuffer and then play again, then pause. Even 360p videos take forever to buffer sometimes, and I don't know what the problem is. The issue isn't only on my computer, but also on my iPhone 4S. Sometimes a 720p video would freeze every 5 seconds, and then when I reload the page the video would run smoothly after. What is the problem, isn't 7Mb/s enough for YouTube?

Here is my speed.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/2411495931.png

 

[Rydian]

Unstable net affecting multiple devices, and the grade of D+ even with a good downstream and a low ping indicates packet loss. Sounds like a problem with your router/wireless is the most likely.

First try logging into the router's control panel and changing the wireless broadcast channel to something a few numbers higher or lower than what it is now, then wait a few minutes and try again. Don't just immediately set it to 11 like some guides say, since the point is to use a channel your neighbors aren't, and if everybody uses 11... it gets worse.

If that doesn't work try power cycling the router, cutting it's power (well, unplugging it), leaving it off for a few minutes, then plugging it back in.

If neither of those work, try upgrading your router's firmware. If it doesn't have it's own update function it'll generally involving downloading a .bin or .zip file from the router maker's site and then feeding it to the router, but read the precautions when doing this (such as doing it from a wired connection, because if the wireless drops in the middle of the update it could brick).

 

[LockeCole_101629]

wired or wireless?
> if this happen on wireless, try wired.
have you tried another browser?
> I don't know why but with firefox, I often had same experience with you, using Chrome is a bit better, tried opera sometimes it doesn't even load.
update flash?
> new version is not always better
My question probably is the most common question asked when it comes about youtube related stuff.
I wouldn't put the blame on hardware first when "Flash plugin" is involved, specially for Streaming and Web based online gaming.


Try to change default isp DNS with Google DNS or any DNS your prefer
also try HTML5 version over the old Adobe flash plugin. https://www.youtube.com/html5
if nothing helps... well just stick with 360p for streaming
I never had any great experience when streaming HD content from youtube either.

* Note: if you are using HTML5 some video might not even load because the original video doesn't support webM & h.264

 

[J-Machine]

I would go with Rydian's suggestions first especially if your router is from linksys or that name is anywhere on the product. 7mb is more than enough speed for youtube SD streaming and the information you gave us leans towards packet loss. if his suggestions don't work ask verizon to refresh your router ( I think that is the term when they reset your router)

 

[tofast4u]

I am wired on my computer. I even ordered a new router from Verizon, which is also a Wireless N router and that one is even worst then this Wireless G router, which I am currently using now again. Its also pretty much the same in every browser. When I download stuff its always fast and consistent at around 790KB/s.
EDIT: I changed it to channel 10, and this is my new speed test score.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/2412087678.png

 

[Ryupower]

try line quality test
http://www.pingtest.net/index.php

 

[tofast4u]

try line quality test
http://www.pingtest.net/index.php

http://www.pingtest.net/result/74985661.png

 

[Rydian]

Is the router separate from the modem, or are they built-in together?

If it's separate remove the router and try wired straight to the modem.

If it's built-in, then this sounds like something verizon will need to fix.

 

[tofast4u]

Is the router separate from the modem, or are they built-in together?

If it's separate remove the router and try wired straight to the modem.

If it's built-in, then this sounds like something verizon will need to fix.

The router and the modem are built together.
EDIT: I called Verizon and they said my internet works just fine...

 

[tofast4u]

I got this plugin for firefox which allows you to directly download the YouTube video into your computer, since you download it as catche anyways. And I noticed if I select FLV 360p/720p the video downloads at about 50 KB/s. But if I choose MP4 360p/720p the video downloads at roughly 750KB/s+. Do you guys think there could be a connection here?

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

I got this plugin for firefox which allows you to directly download the YouTube video into your computer, since you download it as catche anyways. And I noticed if I select FLV 360p/720p the video downloads at about 50 KB/s. But if I choose MP4 360p/720p the video downloads at roughly 750KB/s+. Do you guys think there could be a connection here?

Yeah I think Youtube is trying to phase out flash and switch to pure HTML 5 with that whole native video thing.

 

[tofast4u]

Yeah I think Youtube is trying to phase out flash and switch to pure HTML 5 with that whole native video thing.

But the HTML 5 is even worst for me.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

But the HTML 5 is even worst for me.

No the HTML 5 is the MP4 container the FLV is the Flash container.

 

[Chary]

I have the same problem. I have 12mbps wireless, did a ping and speed test (both were normal) tried changing the channels for wireless, firmware is upgraded, turned it on/off, etc. I can barely play 240p YouTube videos. Called AT&T, and they told me, "there's no problem, you are paying for what you're getting, and problems like this aren't our fault"

 

[tofast4u]

I have the same problem. I have 12mbps wireless, did a ping and speed test (both were normal) tried changing the channels for wireless, firmware is upgraded, turned it on/off, etc. I can barely play 240p YouTube videos. Called AT&T, and they told me, "there's no problem, you are paying for what you're getting, and problems like this aren't our fault"

So there isn't any way to fix this?

 

[Lanlan]

This is really pissing me off. I've been having the same problem for a long time. Reset router, clear cookies, all that shit. I can download from steam at a steady 2.4 mbps but watch a 480p youtube video without it stopping? That's asking way too much. The fuck is causing this? And yes, I'm in HTML5

 

[Rydian]

Try pinging the various servers used for the low and high-quality videos.

 

[Lanlan]

@Rydian how is that done? And sorry for that post, I was pissed off

 

[Rydian]

http://gbatemp.net/threads/download-almost-any-video-online.340824/
Use this to grab the URLs to the actual video files (it's a different one per quality). Once you have the URLs you'll have the servers.

http://r21---sn-p5q7yne7.c.youtube....in=4128&ptk=youtube_none&cpn=XpcafAmJh-4fdKXD
Like that's the URL for a 720P one.

http://r4---sn-p5qlsu7l.c.youtube.c...Jh-4fdKXD&redirect_counter=1&cms_redirect=yes
And that's the URL for a 240P one.

They have different subdomains which (in the case of content servers like this) generally indicates different physical groups.

The 720P server for me is 173.194.7.36, while the 240P one is 74.125.214.51 (addresses found by pinging).

Do both a ping and a tracert for the addresses your search finds.

 

[tofast4u]

http://gbatemp.net/threads/download-almost-any-video-online.340824/
Use this to grab the URLs to the actual video files (it's a different one per quality). Once you have the URLs you'll have the servers.

http://r21---sn-p5q7yne7.c.youtube.com/videoplayback?cp=U0hVRlhOTl9OTENONV9QSFJHOnh6TFZqcEhfUzgw&expire=1361830692&fexp=907050,930206,916612,910823,924314,920704,912806,902000,922403,922405,929901,913605,925006,906938,931202,908529,920201,930101,906834,901451&id=2f86a921d7b9fda3&ip=72.218.3.82&ipbits=8&itag=22&key=yt1&ms=au&mt=1361807298&mv=m&newshard=yes&ratebypass=yes&signature=68879AA5639C9026AE37D8F17CE322DA299E98D9.C7BFAA40A51087B2D439BBF8B7F321BEB3D0B930&source=youtube&sparams=cp,id,ip,ipbits,itag,ratebypass,source,upn,expire&sver=3&upn=M7ObNsPnqQM&begin=4128&ptk=youtube_none&cpn=XpcafAmJh-4fdKXD
Like that's the URL for a 720P one.

http://r4---sn-p5qlsu7l.c.youtube.com/videoplayback?algorithm=throttle-factor&burst=40&cp=U0hVRlhOTl9OTENONV9QSFJHOnh6TFZqcEhfUzgw&expire=1361830692&factor=1.25&fexp=907050,930206,916612,910823,924314,920704,912806,902000,922403,922405,929901,913605,925006,906938,931202,908529,920201,930101,906834,901451&id=2f86a921d7b9fda3&ip=72.218.3.82&ipbits=8&itag=5&key=yt1&ms=tsu&mt=1361807345&mv=m&newshard=yes&signature=4BCCB3389DCF792342CCF99ADFF24C5AA24BBB4C.CC5EB51FCED6A3759923C2D8AF79C0E335DF1258&source=youtube&sparams=algorithm,burst,cp,factor,id,ip,ipbits,itag,source,upn,expire&sver=3&upn=M7ObNsPnqQM&ptk=youtube_none&cpn=XpcafAmJh-4fdKXD&redirect_counter=1&cms_redirect=yes
And that's the URL for a 240P one.

They have different subdomains which (in the case of content servers like this) generally indicates different physical groups.

The 720P server for me is 173.194.7.36, while the 240P one is 74.125.214.51 (addresses found by pinging).

Do both a ping and a tracert for the addresses your search finds.

Seems pretty complicated, is there another way?