Why do Youtube and other videos now stutter/buffer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dovie
  • Start date Start date
D

Dovie

All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and stop
every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
appreciated.
 
"Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7204FA0E-F21E-469B-9578-E438B19503DF@microsoft.com...
> All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and
> stop
> every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> appreciated.

Are you sure your ISP hasn't been carrying out work.

Do the videos play properly after downloading fully.

Could be many reasons.
 
Thanks for your reply. I was in touch with Verizon DSL tech support, and they
told me everything seems to be normal on the line, etc. The videos DO play
normally if I wait long enough for them to download.....!!

"dobey" wrote:

>
> "Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7204FA0E-F21E-469B-9578-E438B19503DF@microsoft.com...
> > All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> > videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and
> > stop
> > every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> > appreciated.
>
> Are you sure your ISP hasn't been carrying out work.
>
> Do the videos play properly after downloading fully.
>
> Could be many reasons.
>
>
>
 
So the question is, what suddenly caused it? My suspicion was that it was
Verizon because I haven't done anything new lately on my computer. When you
go for Help to Verizon it gives you suggestions for changes in Windows
Player, which made no difference there or for Flash Player 9 or even Real
Player.

"dobey" wrote:

>
> "Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7204FA0E-F21E-469B-9578-E438B19503DF@microsoft.com...
> > All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> > videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and
> > stop
> > every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> > appreciated.
>
> Are you sure your ISP hasn't been carrying out work.
>
> Do the videos play properly after downloading fully.
>
> Could be many reasons.
>
>
>
 
Next time you download something just watch the progress bar.

It just sounds like site congestion, or some other bandwidth restriction is
causing the site not to upload quite as fast as it did before.

It doesn't sound like your computer has a problem at all. The file just
isn't reaching your PC fast enough to play without interruption.

"Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:ECB27DCB-06D4-4818-B8B6-96B7E4DAD168@microsoft.com...
> So the question is, what suddenly caused it? My suspicion was that it was
> Verizon because I haven't done anything new lately on my computer. When
> you
> go for Help to Verizon it gives you suggestions for changes in Windows
> Player, which made no difference there or for Flash Player 9 or even Real
> Player.
>
> "dobey" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:7204FA0E-F21E-469B-9578-E438B19503DF@microsoft.com...
>> > All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online
>> > Youtube
>> > videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and
>> > stop
>> > every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be
>> > greatly
>> > appreciated.
>>
>> Are you sure your ISP hasn't been carrying out work.
>>
>> Do the videos play properly after downloading fully.
>>
>> Could be many reasons.
>>
>>
>>
 
Dovie wrote:
> So the question is, what suddenly caused it? My suspicion was that it was
> Verizon because I haven't done anything new lately on my computer. When you
> go for Help to Verizon it gives you suggestions for changes in Windows
> Player, which made no difference there or for Flash Player 9 or even Real
> Player.
>
> "dobey" wrote:
>
>> "Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:7204FA0E-F21E-469B-9578-E438B19503DF@microsoft.com...
>>> All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
>>> videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and
>>> stop
>>> every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
>>> appreciated.
>> Are you sure your ISP hasn't been carrying out work.
>>
>> Do the videos play properly after downloading fully.
>>
>> Could be many reasons.

If you can convince the players that you have a slower connection, more
of the video will be downloaded before it starts playing. That extra
buffer can allow for busy times of the day, etc..

--
Joe =o)
 
Does Verizon have a method for you to test your line speed? If not, perhaps
you can check out http://www.speedtest.net/ or
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/.

"Dovie" wrote:

> All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and stop
> every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> appreciated.
 
If you have not already done so, i would power cycle your modem and/or
router. dsl modems often downtrain the signals, ie: when a certain frequency
on the line isnt coming through properly, many modems shut off that
frequency. after a while of this happening you are obviously going to be
running on a many fewer frequencies than you were before. it is possible
though that you have a modem that automatically uptrains again but most of
them do not do it automatically

"Mathenge" wrote:

> Does Verizon have a method for you to test your line speed? If not, perhaps
> you can check out http://www.speedtest.net/ or
> http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/.
>
> "Dovie" wrote:
>
> > All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> > videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and stop
> > every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> > appreciated.
 
Please tell me how to do this with a DSL Westell 6100 modem. Thank you.

"anthony" wrote:

> If you have not already done so, i would power cycle your modem and/or
> router. dsl modems often downtrain the signals, ie: when a certain frequency
> on the line isnt coming through properly, many modems shut off that
> frequency. after a while of this happening you are obviously going to be
> running on a many fewer frequencies than you were before. it is possible
> though that you have a modem that automatically uptrains again but most of
> them do not do it automatically
>
> "Mathenge" wrote:
>
> > Does Verizon have a method for you to test your line speed? If not, perhaps
> > you can check out http://www.speedtest.net/ or
> > http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/.
> >
> > "Dovie" wrote:
> >
> > > All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> > > videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and stop
> > > every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> > > appreciated.
 
I tested the speed at speakeasy, and it showed 240 download and 131 upload.
Doesn't sound very good for Verizon DSL!

"Mathenge" wrote:

> Does Verizon have a method for you to test your line speed? If not, perhaps
> you can check out http://www.speedtest.net/ or
> http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/.
>
> "Dovie" wrote:
>
> > All of a sudden the last couple of days I can't watch any online Youtube
> > videos. I emptied my cache, I did disk cleanup. Still videos start and stop
> > every few seconds. This never happened before. Any advice will be greatly
> > appreciated.
 
For the heck of it, try watching the videos (TV spots) at the Ron Paul
website. www.ronpaul2008.com. When I start them (they come from YOutube) they
stop after 4 seconds, start for about 4 seconds, then stop again, etc. etc.
 
If it's just a matter of congestion, so why now, the last couple of days? Why
more than just that website? If it's the website needing power cycling, so
why didn't the Verizon Tech person tell me about it?!
 
to power cycle the modem, just unplug it for one minute, then plug back in.
this should reset it to use the full range of frequencies

"Dovie" wrote:

> For the heck of it, try watching the videos (TV spots) at the Ron Paul
> website. www.ronpaul2008.com. When I start them (they come from YOutube) they
> stop after 4 seconds, start for about 4 seconds, then stop again, etc. etc.
 
Well, I found the instructions to power cycle, by unplugging the modem from
the power source, waiting, rebooting and replugging the modem. I also went
back and did another speed test, the downloading speed shows it worse than
before. Whereas downloading was 240kb now it was about 130kb!
So the question remains: What is going on with the modem and with Verizon
DSL?!
 
OK folks.......After spending about half an hour on the phone with Verizon
and discussing the results of the speed test, they did their own test (in
India or wherever) and found a problem either somewhere on the line or the
modem, and issued a ticket number for resolution. I'll update you if and when
this is resolved.
 
"Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9FE02983-6AF5-4923-A309-872E467E1AAA@microsoft.com...
> If it's just a matter of congestion, so why now, the last couple of days?
> Why
> more than just that website? If it's the website needing power cycling, so
> why didn't the Verizon Tech person tell me about it?!


"Power Cycling" just means turning the power on and off on your modem, or
just a wanky term for the same thing any other machine.

You don't know enough to know you don't know enough about the workings of
the internet, (and I can't be bothered explaining).

I'm willing to bet your "problem" will resolve itself within a few days or a
week.
 
"Dovie" <Dovie@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9EA45AE0-1A64-4D11-BCD4-A6E3F33CF076@microsoft.com...
> OK folks.......After spending about half an hour on the phone with Verizon
> and discussing the results of the speed test, they did their own test (in
> India or wherever) and found a problem either somewhere on the line or the
> modem, and issued a ticket number for resolution. I'll update you if and
> when
> this is resolved.

Please don't...
 
surprisingly enough, i actually work for verizon tech support

"Dovie" wrote:

> OK folks.......After spending about half an hour on the phone with Verizon
> and discussing the results of the speed test, they did their own test (in
> India or wherever) and found a problem either somewhere on the line or the
> modem, and issued a ticket number for resolution. I'll update you if and when
> this is resolved.
 
Anthony, everything seems to be back to normal this morning. However,
although the speeds are supposed to be 860/153, I am only getting about
740-750/120-130.
Since you work for Verizon Tech Support, what does this mean? Thank you.

"anthony" wrote:

> surprisingly enough, i actually work for verizon tech support
>
> "Dovie" wrote:
>
> > OK folks.......After spending about half an hour on the phone with Verizon
> > and discussing the results of the speed test, they did their own test (in
> > India or wherever) and found a problem either somewhere on the line or the
> > modem, and issued a ticket number for resolution. I'll update you if and when
> > this is resolved.
 
this could be a number of things. most likely it has to do with your loop
length, which is how far you are away from the central office. the farther
you are from the co the more difficult it is to receive a full signal due to
attenuation and/or line noise

"Dovie" wrote:

> Anthony, everything seems to be back to normal this morning. However,
> although the speeds are supposed to be 860/153, I am only getting about
> 740-750/120-130.
> Since you work for Verizon Tech Support, what does this mean? Thank you.
>
> "anthony" wrote:
>
> > surprisingly enough, i actually work for verizon tech support
> >
> > "Dovie" wrote:
> >
> > > OK folks.......After spending about half an hour on the phone with Verizon
> > > and discussing the results of the speed test, they did their own test (in
> > > India or wherever) and found a problem either somewhere on the line or the
> > > modem, and issued a ticket number for resolution. I'll update you if and when
> > > this is resolved.
 
Back
Top