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Entelgen
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YouTube Troubles

Aug 19, 2012 7:32 PM

Tags: #help #issue #youtube #video #not_working #player #flash_player #chrome #flash_player_11 #youtube_video #etc. #buffering_issues #youtube_problems

I am an avid user of the popular site, YouTube. I doubt that any of the users on this forum are unfamiliar with the website.

 

I am having extreme trouble buffering YouTube videos. About two months ago I could buffer and stream 720p video, and ever since then I could no longer watch a 360p video at all.

 

I am the only one in my network having this problem.

 

I have searched about other people having this problem, and I saw a couple threads about it from a few years ago, nothing is recent.

 

I have gone through multiple troubleshooting 'adventures'.

 

I have recently installed more RAM into my computer for different reasons, and no change was made (I went from 3.00GB of installed RAM to 4.00GB).

 

I have a close friend who has a computer that can barely run flash games because of miniscule processing power/RAM, and he can buffer 480p videos with worse internet speed than me.

 

It isn't the internet speed, I have plenty.

It isn't bandwidth, I have plenty.

It isn't any other site, just YouTube. Other websites play videos with ease, but even other sites with embedded YouTube videos will not buffer easily.

 

I can't see a reason why this is happening. I don't remember doing any extreme changes to my computer other than the new installed RAM in the past 9 months.

 

If anyone has this problem, please let me know.

If anyone has a solution to this problem, please let me know.

 

A note: I have looked into a Bandwidth problem, as YouTube videos will buffer slightly faster during the hours of around 3AM - 6AM, but still not fast enough to watch 360p videos.

 

If anyone can point a finger at what the problem is, I would be EXTREMELY greatful.

 

Thank you all for your time.

 

Another note: I use Google Chrome, and have tested other browsers with no better preformance (IE9, Firefox).

1319 Views   15 Replies   Latest reply: Entelgen, Aug 24, 2012 11:32 AM
 
Replies
  • FuriousUser
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    1. FuriousUser,
    Aug 21, 2012 11:57 AM   in reply to Entelgen
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    Youtube buffers 720p and 1080p videos at full speed (in my case 30 Mbits). This causes high cpu usage even when the video is paused but loading. Flash Plugin 11.3 is even worse especially in Firefox with protected mode on. Buffering is a real pain, it uses almost 50% CPU on an Intel Core2Duo E8500 (3.16 ghz) with video paused. The better the internet connection the worse buffer issues are. If you use a netbook or an older computer (single core) I think that Flash Player is simply unusable.

     

    In Chrome you may try disabling pepper flash plugin: http://techlogon.com/2011/08/11/shockwave-flash-crashes-in-google-chro me/

     

    A long youtube HD video to test buffer issues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUh8XGGdLSg (be sure to enable HD).

     

    Install flash player 11.2 or 10.3. It will still consume CPU cycles when buffering but less than latest version.

     

    Adobe is employing their users as alpha testers, I hope HTML5 video replaces this buggy flash plugin soon.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    2. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 12:10 PM   in reply to FuriousUser
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    You. Are. My. Hero.

    I love you.

     

    I disabled PepperFlash and the Google Flash as the guide you linked stated, and when I tried to install the 'latest' version of Flash from FileHippo, it wasn't the latest version. Anyway, I decided to continue on and see how well the YouTube video you linked would render.

     

    I set the video to render in 720p, and I counted out 20 seconds. By the time 20 seconds was played in the video, I had already buffered to 4:35! EVERYTHING is back to normal, after many many months of waiting.

     

    If anyone else has this problem, I suggest they read this forum closely.

     

    Thanks so much!

     
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  • Entelgen
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    3. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 7:03 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    We have a new problem. And by we, I mean only me.

     

    If I didn't mention it before, I am the only person in the entire house (and/or network) that has problems with YouTube.

     

    The fix listed above worked flawlessly for the first few videos.

     

    Very, very slowly, the buffer speed slowed down, and now I can no longer watch 240p videos on my computer.

     

    Every other website is fine, including other websites that use Flash.

     

    So I tried disabling certain plugins, enabling others, and nothing really worked. I spent 2 hours trying to watch a 10-minute video today.

     

    Does anyone have a suggestion for a fix to this? Is it just YouTube's servers? What is happening!?

     
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  • Entelgen
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    4. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 7:05 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    FuriousUser, I returned to your video that you linked. Now, I can get through the first 10 seconds on 720p before I have to buffer for another 2 or 3 minutes.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    5. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 7:42 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    I uninstalled my version of Flash that I was using before, and installed version 11.2.202.235, and set it so that it did not automatically update Flash. I selected a video that was new from my subscriptions, and used a stopwatch to collect this data.

     

    Beginning of video was in 480, selected 720p.

    10s Buffer time.

    13s Play time, pauses.

    10s Buffer time.

    16s Play time, pauses.

    52s Buffer time.

    14s Play time.

     

    Then I got angry and stopped.

     

    If it helps, the specs for things relating to YouTube are:

     

    Intel Pentium Dual-Core 3.2GHz & 3.2GHz

    4.00GB installed RAM

    64-bit Win7 OS

     

    I have a network adapter card, I forget the make.

     

    I am going to try updating to the newest version of Flash again to see if I may have missed an update.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    6. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 7:46 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    Updated to Flash 11.4.402.265, could watch 6 seconds of a video in 360p before buffering.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    7. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 7:48 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    I am in the US in North Carolina. I can buffer videos from Europe faster than I can buffer videos from California?

     

    I'm just throwing ideas out there to see if someone can say "OOH! THAT'S IT!'...

     
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  • Entelgen
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    8. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 8:01 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    I was wondering about how it could only be my computer having the issue, so I went back and looked at other computers in the network. There are two that are main computers, and some other systems that are rarely ever used. I used mine, and the other mostly-used computer to run a test. I picked a random video after searching 'youtube' in YouTube's search bar (see how creative I am? ) and waited through the 360p video without moving the slider whatsoever, and watched the video to see when exactly the video finished buffering.

     

    It is 11:00PM for me when I ran the test, if it helps.

     

    In the other room, closer to the Modem, connected with Ethernet, the video finished buffering at exactly 2:26.

    In this room, slightly further from the Modem, connected with Ethernet, the video finished buffering... at exactly 2:26.

     

    Now I am beginning to think that the computer is not the problem. I have asked this question on other forums, do you think I should go to another forum since this is no longer an issue with Adobe Flash?

     

    However, if anyone has help for me, please let me know.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    9. Entelgen,
    Aug 21, 2012 8:04 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    I think it may be a bandwidth issue, but my ISP has given me extreme ammounts to use, and I couldn't understand how we could be using so much. There is no way. Pretty much the only things using bandwidth in the house are an iPod touch, a cellphone (when it's in use), a Blu-Ray player (which is off most of the time, isn't on at the moment), and these two computers.

     

    Is there perhaps a port in my firewall/modem that i have to open to allow YouTube to stream videos? I'm pretty sure it uses port 80 like most other websites, and that port is open by default.

     

    I wish more things in this world would just never NOT work. Things would be easier

     
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  • FuriousUser
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    10. FuriousUser,
    Aug 22, 2012 10:19 AM   in reply to Entelgen
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    Don't do the tests with 360p videos, because the buffer is slower. Only 720p and long videos like the one I posted before. If the problem is present in all the computers of the network, the problem may be the ISP.

     

    Perform a traceroute to youtube.com to test the congestion of the carrier(s) between your network and google servers (Run - cmd.exe - tracert youtube.com) and paste here the results if you don't know how to interpret them. I'll try to help.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    11. Entelgen,
    Aug 22, 2012 4:31 PM   in reply to FuriousUser
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    Tracing route to youtube.com [74.125.134.190]

    over a maximum of 20 hops:

     

    1     *     *     *     Request timed out.

    2     18ms     19ms     20ms     66.26.46.149

    3     26ms     23ms     23ms     ae19.chrlncpip-rtr1.southeast.rr.com [24.93.64.2]

    4     31ms     31ms     31ms     107.14.19.18

    5     27ms     29ms     29ms     107.14.19.11

    6     111ms   108ms   110ms   72.14.219.56

    7     27ms     29ms     29ms     72.14.233.54

    8     32ms     34ms     40ms     66.249.94.24

    9     28ms     29ms     29ms     209.85.254.249

    10     *     *     *     Request timed out.

    11     31ms     33ms     29ms     gg-in-f109.1e100.net [74.125.134.190]

     

    Trace complete.

     
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  • FuriousUser
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    12. FuriousUser,
    Aug 22, 2012 4:52 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    There's a little congestion on the sixth hop, but that's a google server: http://whois.domaintools.com/72.14.219.56

     

    Maybe the problem is google itself, the friend you spoke about in the first post has the same ISP? Different ISPs trace different routes to the same point, maybe he doesn't pass through that congested server.

     
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  • Entelgen
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    13. Entelgen,
    Aug 22, 2012 5:09 PM   in reply to FuriousUser
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    I'll have to ask him about it. What does this mean I should do? Do I have to just wait for Google to fix my problem? I think we all know that won't happen anytime soon.

     
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  • FuriousUser
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    14. FuriousUser,
    Aug 23, 2012 3:44 PM   in reply to Entelgen
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    If the problem is the ISP, is your decision. If you are satisfied with the service and get good speeds from the rest of sites is clearly google's fault and could solve it sooner or later.

     

    Other users with similar problems: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r27189454-Youtube-throttled-by-T WC-

     
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  • Entelgen
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    15. Entelgen,
    Aug 24, 2012 11:32 AM   in reply to FuriousUser
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    Suddenly fixed, horribly confused, not going to touch anything.

    w/e

     
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