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General discussion

Video streaming problems: Who's to blame, ISP or computer?

Aug 23, 2012 9:59AM PDT
Question:

Video streaming problems: Who's to blame, ISP or computer?


I'm having a frustrating time watching video on my computer at home.
Whenever I go to watch a videos whether it's on YouTube, news site, or
some other Websites, my videos often gets stuck buffering after only a
few seconds of playing. When it seems like it's ready to go again, it
plays for a while then starts to buffer again. It can take over 5
minutes to get through a 30 second video, and that's after the video
starts playing! Is this an issue with my broadband provider or is it
my computer? How can I tell whose fault is it? Are there tests I can run
that help eliminate common problem areas, so I can nail down the cause of
my frustrations? Are there ways to make things better. Or should I
switch broadband companies? All this stop and go buffering is driving me
a bit loony! Thanks for any help.

-- Submitted by: Cindy W.

Note: This post was edited by its original author on 08/23/2012 at 4:59 PM PT

Discussion is locked

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Insufficient Data
Aug 24, 2012 11:59PM PDT

You do not tell us whether or not your computer is wired to your router/modem or is connected wirelessly. The quality of a wireless connection is going to vary widely depending on location (and on your router and network card). If you have a weak wireless connection it would explain the buffering. You might want to change your location in the home or get a new, faster router. For all I know you're running 802.11b, which would result in the buffering you describe.

If you are wired to your router or modem, well, that's a very different kettle of fish. If you're using dial-up, or even DSL, you are likely to experience a good deal of buffering. If this is the case, going broadband will serve you well, young Jedi. If you live in an area where Verizon FiOS is available and can afford it, that's the best (at least on these shores), with speeds up to 300 Mbps.

There are other possible causes, but these are the most likely.

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Here are a few things to try
Aug 25, 2012 12:32AM PDT

If you're using a wireless connection try a hard wired connection instead or else check for interference from other nearby wireless networks.

Optimize your internet connection using SG TCP Optimizer available from here:

http://www.speedguide.net/sg_tools.php

You can test your video streaming speed here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/diagnostics

You should make sure that you have only the latest version of Adobe Flash Player installed and that you have removed all trace of previous versions. The easiest way to acieve this is to download the flash player removal tool by following the instructions here:

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html

Then either reboot or use a system cleaning product to flush the cache. Then install flash player again. You'll need to install the correct version(s) for any installed browsers that you use. If you happen to use Google Chrome, I've heard of flash player issues caused by allowing Chrome to update automatically. It doesn't fully remove earlier versions. In this case the best thing to do is back up your bookmarks then fully remove and then reinstall Google Chrome.

Try disabling the harware acceleration setting in flash player:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/891337

Check that your graphics drivers are up to date. Probably the easiest way is to use driver update software like SlimDrivers but create a system restore point first!

You can also try changing your default DNS server as the one provided by your ISP may not be the fastest one for you.

https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-change-dns-server.htm

My personal preferences are Norton DNS and Comodo Secure DNS. There is software available that can switch DNS between providers easily and determine which is the fastest one for you to use. It's available here:

http://www.sordum.net/?p=4573

Now if all of the above has been checked and you've still got problems you'll need to check what other processes are running in the background and what else is connecting to the internet. It could be that something is consuming system resources that you are unaware of.

You can check running processes using Task Manager or else try Process Explorer:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb545027

You can also use a port scanner to shut unwanted connections. There's a good one here:

http://download.cnet.com/TCPEye/3000-2085_4-75104118.html

Shut down any non-critical resource hungry programs then try playing a video. If the problem persists I'd suggest checking all cables including any LAN cables along with your telephone line.

There could also be hardware issues. You could try a new graphics card but only as a last resort!

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I found my solution to that problem.
Aug 25, 2012 1:41AM PDT

I was having the same problem. I was paying for 12MB service and I thought I should get better than Dial-up.
I would go to my ISP's web site and do a speed test (speedtest.com) to my ISP. The results would come back:
11MB download
900KB upload
But when would test out to any big city like New York or Dallas the results was drastically different:
1.5MB download
900KB upload
I finally got my ISP's tech support to send out a technician. They required me to send them my speed test results in a email.
He started but checking the signal level and found them to be normal. Then, he started isolating the components on my home system. He took my V.O.I.P. telephone out of the loop and my speed test to Dallas jump to:
11MB download
900KB upload
The V.O.I.P. telephone was only supposed to use 3-4 MB of bandwidth.
I found Verizon had a cell phone modem almost the same size as the V.O.I.P. telephone.
The V.O.I.P. telephone cost me $17.00 per/month plus Taxes and
The cell phone modem at Verizon cost me only $20.00 per/month plus Taxes.
I switched and I found the cell phone modem acts just like my cell phone even to the voice mail. That made the learning curve pretty easy.
I now steam movies from VUDU and AMAZON without buffering problems, even during peak hours in the evening. YouTube streams fine, but it sometimes takes a couple attempts to get it started.
I hope you find this information helpful.

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Few options that might help...
Aug 25, 2012 3:34AM PDT
when doing the video thing did you have any aplications or other pages open at the same time? cus that could also be sucking up your internet speed. So close all other windowns and any programs.

If you have Wireless try to conect directly with Ethernet cord because some times you can experience a delay. When i play Blacks ops on my PS3 i would usually get 3 to 4 bars on wireless but when i used the Ethernet cord instead it always gave me full signal of 5 bars.

Other thing you could also do is go to www.speedtest.net and do a insternet speed test to make sure its running at full speed of what you paing because if thats the case then call your internet provider and let them know you are not getting the full speed you are suposed to get.

You could also upgrade your internet speed to a higher one, dont go for the max but just try out the next speed above the one you currently have.

Other thing is make sure your wireless is password protected, even if it is maybe someone like a neighboor or something when they visited you they might have written down the information from the bottom of your router and their using or it could be someone from around using a program that even thou it takes very long, it will eventually keep colecting data from your wireless until its has enough information to guess your wireless password so go in your wireless router and change the password, i change mine every 3 to 4 months. If you can try to make your Wireless signal invisible just make sure your write down your wireless information cus the scan will not work, you will have to write down in your PC.

Well and last, if your not even using your wireless at all but just Ethernet wire then just go in your wireless router and switch the options to Ethernet only, some rounters like mine have a button on the back that you can easily turn off wireless and keep Ethernet only.

Well i hope this will help Happy best of luck

Paulo Silveira
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Checking upload and download speed.
Aug 25, 2012 5:25AM PDT

You can check your ISP upload and downloads by doing a search using any search provider. That would tell you if the ISP is fast enough. For your computer speeds your cpu speed.
Hope this helps.

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Re: speed
Aug 25, 2012 5:30AM PDT

The first point obviously is nonsense. The second one is un-understandable.

Kees

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Problem with speed of viewing videos
Sep 1, 2012 12:58AM PDT

If you can't answer the questions without being cynical, don't bother to participate.

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Who's to blame.
Aug 25, 2012 6:06AM PDT

Do a few experiment (we can't do them for you).

1. Find a friend with a laptop and let him do the same as you using your connection. Same result? Then it isn't your computer. Much better result? Then it is. Then repeat the experiment at his house, using his connection (moving a PC in a car isn't the most difficult thing to do; with a laptop it's even trivial).
2.To exclude wireless issues, use a wired connection. Much better? Then you know where to look.
3. To exclude the router (if you have separate modem and router): connect wired directly to the modem in stead of via the router. Much better? Then you know where to look.

So you should ask us, if it is the ISP, the modem/router, the connection, or the PC. We should ask you, since you're the only one who can determine it.

Kees

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I've seen it both ways...
Aug 25, 2012 7:02AM PDT

Sometimes it is because a Windows Update hosed the network ability of the PC. Only an image restore and a repeat of the last Microsoft updates fixed the issue. I couldn't even connect through the modem, let alone the LAN.

Most of the time, in my experience, it is because of malware, on my client's PC . They have no real time malware blocking - which is almost impossible to find now(for limited accounts), so using CCleaner is the best substitute. Using No Script on FireFox can help block advertisements that may be playing while you watch the video, so it is handy to just allow the flash video using NoScript. All you have to do is double click in the video display area of the page, and NoScript will automatically allow that video. Running as a limited user account is a requirement to help prevent infection by the more serious malware. Regular scanning by MBAM and/or SAS can really help in this area. If you run as administrator, the real time protection of the paid versions of MBAM and/or SAS can be a real help there, but personally I can't recommend running that way all the time.

If you have at least a 3Mbs per second broadband connection, and the ISP isn't up to throttling; then you should be able to watch most videos with few interruptions, but it helps to be on DSL, because the connection to the gateway is dedicated, and you are less likely to be sharing bandwidth with other customers. Sometimes it is just the web site and how much load it is taking, or the location it is in the WAN that can effect routing, and slow a particular site down. This shouldn't be the case with YouTube however, as it is optimized for all factors in this regard.

Oddly enough I was having trouble with everything but video streaming on my PC, until I got calls from my clients about the same thing. The regular HTML pages were so slow as to be like dial up!!! I called my ISP and asked them if they were throttling HTML to give more bandwidth to the streamers, and they said they'd check. Sure enough everything sped up and all traffic was normal again. If your ISP made a mistake in configuration, they could be inadvertently slowing streaming traffic in the same way.

I'm not sure of the legal ramification of throttling if your EULA with the ISP doesn't cover this area, they may be in violation of FCC rules. I believe the supreme court allowed throttling from providers if they clearly state that this will occur in their contracts with customers.

If you've never had what you thought was acceptable streaming performance, it could also be the throughput of your modem or router, or both! One would have to check the specifications of the router/modem to make sure this is not a factor. If you cabling is cruddy and has a lot of crosstalk in it, this can definitely affect performance in this area. Be sure and use the best shielded Cat 5 patch cable you can find. The Ethernet card must be capable of fast connection too, but even old card technology supported 10Mb/per second, and that is God's plenty, so unless it has been comprimised by a power surge and reduced its bandwidth, that shouldn't be a factor.

Our ISP is going gigabyte speed soon, and I will have to purchase all new Ethernet adapters and an "N" router at that time, to take advantage of this service. Most modern cards, modems, and routers are rated for this now. We had to have PPPoE capable equipment for this to work properly, so that could also be a factor if your modem or router is miss-configured or not even capable of that kind of protocol or other ISP schema that could be prevalent.

I rarely find the firewall as the culprit unless the router is mis-configured, or the PC's software firewall is malfunctioning. IF you are behind a router/firewall, it is safe to turn off your software firewall(providing no other PCs are on the same LAN and turned on), and try your ISP speed test utility, every ISP I've worked with has one on their web site. I recommend using their speed test first, so you can see if it is truely a problem between you and the ISP gateway. IF that passes with flying colors try some of the online speed test located in different areas if the world to see if their is a bottle neck near the areas you like to frequent. Be sure and turn your software firewall back on afterward and compare the speed test for both possibilities.

This is rare, but occasionally I find clients with really old smoldy media players in their PC, they never updated media player, Adobe Shockwave, or Adobe flash, or they have a really old version of Chrome with its older embedded flash version. So a person can always run Secunia PSI or File Hippo's Update Checker to find out what is running that is out of date in that area. Some folks like CNET's email update reminders, I like to use all three myself, so in case one misses something the other one covers it. Most of the time this won't affect performance, but malware can take over an older version of any of these, and make life miserable, so it is still good advice.

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Buffering etc.
Aug 25, 2012 7:47AM PDT

Just for drill you can run a speedtest (speedtest.net) this will give you an approximation of download/upload, it is NOT totally accurate but will give you a general idea how your server is performing, from wireless and hardwire set ups. It could be a hardware issue (ram/vidram/processor) but if it could also be attributed to other issues, things running in the background, security software interference. It could also have to do with bandwidth drain/draw owing to the number of users in a specific area, doing a basic speed test at different times of day/night may speak to that possibility. It could also be related to the location(s) from which you are streaming there are several issues that could create these problems, it can be daunting.

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Common isue
Aug 25, 2012 11:20AM PDT

The start - buffering - continue - buffering ... is prety common. It's usualy caused by a connection that don't have enough bandwidth.

It may be that your account offers a bandwidth that not big enough. Basic, or entry level, broadband is normaly not enough as it's often only twice as fast as dial up. Often, upgrading to the next speed bracket will cure that problem.

If you use cable broadband and there is to much trafic in your sector, you can experience some slowdowns ranging from barely noticeable to severe. Try during another period of the day. Some times, waiting only a few minutes may be all that you need.

Another possibility is to sellect the next lower quality if there are several available for that content. This also works if your computer is not up to the task, but, with current computers, it's very seldom the case unless you have to many background tasks running.

Some ISPs have the bad habit of throtling down some contents, or even dropind the transfert completely if there are not "enough" get or post requests from your connection. In this case, you often need to open another window, resized small, that you use to randomly surf to keep your transfert alive. That mesure is intended to reduce excessive transfert, but usualy result in exactly the oposite.

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provider, connection speed
Aug 25, 2012 12:59PM PDT

Who is your internet provider? Are you connecting via dial up, DSL, satellite, food, or cable?

I'd you are on dial up then you will always have buffering. For DSL, you probably need more than 1mps speed. When I had DSL at 1 mbps, I always had severe buffering. I switched to cable and solved that problem.

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Simple solution
Aug 25, 2012 2:37PM PDT

If you don't have enough bandwidth, such as our household lacks, right click on any flash window and choose settings...then click on the little folder icon in the settings window and slide the local storage to unlimited and close. You may also need a temporary internet storage file large enough to contain the full flash file. You'll need to set the local storage limit for each Internet video provider you visit and it may not work for some proprietary sites.

Then whenever you go to a video simply pause it and let it download to your temp folder, not all of it if you don't want to wait, but let it get far enough ahead so that playback doesn't catch up with the download point and it won't buffer.

That will automatically tell you if its your bandwidth connection or something about your computer that is not keeping up.

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How to cope..
Aug 25, 2012 6:43PM PDT

Doesn't matter whose fault ... just hit the pause button and wait for the red line to move half way then hit the play again.

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Speakeasy Speed Test
Aug 26, 2012 12:16AM PDT

I'm sure there are many other sites where you can run Download & Upload speeds. I use Speak Easy. You'll find Dial-up the absolute slowest. DSL next up from Dial-up. Cable is the most common; and, I hear Verizon Fios is the top of the line for speed, but very expensive.

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Re: Video streaming problems:
Aug 26, 2012 3:20AM PDT

There are a few other possible causes;
Your grounding may have been torn off or loosened by a weed eater or may be corroded. If you know where your cable/telephone/satellite connects to your ground, check it or have someone else knowledgeable check it.
If you're using a wireless router make sure you are the only one using it. Apply a password for access. Others in your neighbourhood may be 'sharing' your wifi with you cutting your bandwidth.
Check all other connection points to make sure they are tight and not corroded or not affected by excess moisture.
If you're using a dial-up and have filters on your phones, unhook each filter one by one and leave the phone unhooked too. Check your results with a video with each one you unhook. You may have a filter going bad. Remember to reconnect each one as they pass the test.

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Video Streaming
Aug 26, 2012 7:00AM PDT

I used to have such problems but found that upgrading the computer's memory usually solves this problem. Even on a 10 megabit download speed the videos on YouTube should play without buffering problems.

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Know The Capabilities/Limits of Your ISP and Home Network
Aug 26, 2012 10:41AM PDT

Hi Cindy

It can be very frustrating to experience streaming issues with video either with YouTube or any video streaming service. I don't have answer for your question because there are too many unknowns that had you provided a bit more information would have been helpful to give you a starting point.

What you are going to get from this forum are excellent answers to "probable" causes with "suggestions" as to where to look/start which are going to be all over the spectrum. You're sort of looking for answer on a dart board but throwing blind folded.

Basic information of importance that would help the members (without going into a lot of detail on your part) are:

Questions Related To Your ISP
1. Are you Cable, DSL or...wait for it.....Satellite. If satellite...that's opens up an entirely different set of variables.
2. Are you using Internet Phone Service
3. What level of Internet Service are you paying for :
- Basic (Bandwidth suitable for email and general web surfing)
- Intermediate (Bandwidth suitable for all the above plus internet phone service and movie download - but not all at the same time
- Premium (Bandwidth suitable for just about anything)
4. What level of DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) does your ISP support (i.e. 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0)
5. If your ISP supports DOCSIS 3.0 have you been given a modem by your ISP capable of recognizing it.
6. If you own your modem (as I do) is it capable of supporting all the upload and download packets (bandwidth and DOCSIS specification) provided by your ISP

Questions For You
1. What type of setup are using Wired or Wireless
2. If Wired is it 10/100 ethernet (good) or 10/100/1000 ethernet (Best)
3. If Wireless are you broadcasting 802.11 b/g or 802.11n
4. If 802.11n are you connecting at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz
5. Is your router Dual Band to broadcast both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz to allow your computer and peripherals to connect at the optimum frequency for their installed WiFi card
6. Is your router N300, N600, N750 or N900 (just know that the higher the number the better)
7. If using Internet Phone Service does your router allow you via a web interface to adjust the QoS (Quality of Service)
8. Are there others in your household sharing your WiFi
9. Is your WiFi protected to stop others outside your household from stealing your bandwidth - not to mention compromising your network to steal information off your computer
10. Are you running more than one Firewall on your computer (the correct answer is "NO")
11. Location of your computer (if wireless) relative to your router (i.e. distance or behind a wall, in another room and proximity to a microwave)

The questions are not as involved as you might think. The first group can be answered by your ISP. The second group can be answered with the help of a knowledgeable friend if you don't know the answers yourself. Providing answers to the questions I've listed will give the knowledgeable members in this forum better insight into your issues and allow them to pinpoint a viable starting point.

FYI, I know the answers to the questions I asked relating to my ISP and home network. I'm wireless, with dual band Apple router (N750), Premium Internet Service, Motorola SB 6120 modem, DOCSIS 3.0, Internet Phone Service, streaming with two PlayStations, two AppleTV's, connecting a Windows PC, two Mac's and three iPads. My only drawback is that I can't adjust QoS with my Apple router, so consequently my voice service will develop an echo from time to time but not very often. To be honest I'm not streaming all 4 entertainment boxes at the same time...that would slow any home network.

Knowing the above information has enabled me to actually make my ISP aware of problems that they corrected and probably otherwise would have pushed the problem back to me. Knowledge is Power! If I have problems such as yours and I'm satisfied that I have answered my own questions...then I start looking at network cards etc.

Cindy, short of somehow adjusting your question to include the information I've suggested or maybe reposting at a later date...I sincerely hope you find a solution to your problem.

Together Everyone Achieves More

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Problems streaming video
Sep 2, 2012 3:44AM PDT

One other problem is possible -- your home telephone wiring. If you have DSL, your ISP may have sent you phone filters for each telephone, and your phones may be wired in a daisy chain that evolved over the years.

I recently rewired my home telephone connections. From the demarcation point just inside the house, I installed a proper telephone splitter. Then ran one single unkinked good condition telephone wire to my DSL modem. On the other side of the splitter, I installed one DSL filter, then ran all of the telephones from this separate connection. In this manner, telephones never interfere with your modem. One filter works better than individual filters on each telephone. My download speed was abysmal before I finished the wiring, even though the signal into the house was strong. After I rewired, the download speed was 10 times higher than before. Well worth the effort if you have an unfinished basement.

I am female and 68 years old, so if I can do it, anyone can.

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Could be a few things
Aug 26, 2012 3:06PM PDT

It could be your ISP or it could be your computer itself. You didn't give much details so it is hard to answer which is causing the buffering. I was having the same problem you were having. I was cursing my ISP for being slow. That wasn't the case at all. I built a new computer and the video's on youtube, my news and other sites ran like a charm. You didn't say how long you have had the computer, but, I had mine for many years. I am guessing the the age of my computer and never cleaning out all the junk that builds up over the year. It slowed my online video viewing to a crawl. If you have a recent backup of your data file and a image of your computer from when it was first bought. You could try reformatting your computer. Re-installing windows then use you image disk to get your programs back. Then getting your backup data back on the drive. That should clear out all the junk that builds up in the windows registry and give you better playback from your favorite video sites.

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Good Call
Aug 29, 2012 4:18AM PDT

Good advice tbone69069 (and by a few others) regarding the age of Cindy's computer as another probable cause. Another point may be the OS but now that I think about it she didn't mention what OS she's running?

Regardless of which OS it needs to have the latest updates installed and the same goes for the associated browser. There's also the question of viruses. Like I said in my post there's really too many unknowns to pinpoint a cause.

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Video stream problem
Aug 29, 2012 8:25AM PDT

If you have a PC with windows installed you probably have Windows Media Player which is probably
causing you the problem at first glance.
Quick to verify if that's your problem is to get a copy of Adobe Flash Player or other media player and see if they
do the same thing...if not then it's your player...if yes then you have problem like I do and I'm still working on it.
Update your codecs....this isn't much info but hope it helps some.
Good luck.

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Video buffering issues
Aug 31, 2012 12:03PM PDT

I used to install DSL services, which is basically the lowest end of the speed spectrum in terms of broadband Internet services. You will have buffering issues when you try to play higher resolution videos, but lower resolution videos should not be a problem. That being said, everyone on here has gone into a great amount of detail with possible problems and ways of isolating the cause. Don't dismiss the router. I've had a lot of Internet speed and connectivity issues be linked to the router. Update the firmware on the router before replacing it, and don't be afraid to spend a decent amount on a high quality router. I personally like the Linksys/Cisco brand myself. Good luck!

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Neither
Aug 31, 2012 12:09PM PDT

Neither. It's Youtube's servers.
Sometimes they are just slow.

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Video streaming problems: Who's to blame, ISP or computer?
Aug 31, 2012 1:02PM PDT

If using DSL have you tried taking the power off the DSL modem, then back on, then restarting the PC?

I had a problem with file dowmnloads at 92 kb/sec and was blaming the download site. After turning my DSL modem off and then back on I got full speed back again. 3MB files were taking hours to download up to this point.

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Flash Video plugin-container.exe
Aug 31, 2012 1:52PM PDT

The problem, if it states that your video is buffering, is clearly your ISP speed. Look for an icon in the lower right of the video player to reduce the resolution of the video. Usually they default to 480p or thereabouts. Reduce to 240p for smoothest playback, although the video will appear lower quality. If you gotta have HD, spend more and upgrade your ISP speed.

If it's just really jerky, or freezes then speeds up but never indicates it's "biffering", it's that damn plugin-container.exe online videos use that has gotten more and more cpu intensive for no real good reason (except to overlay advertisements). Download the video to your local drive with DownloadHelper or similar, and play the video with VLC Player. The same video that's unwatchable online will be glass-smooth on VLC, so it's something clunky in the container.

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I am not sure about that but,
Aug 31, 2012 9:09PM PDT

it can be your ISP and it can also be your computer. It depends on the specs of your computer and how many of you are using the internet.

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I'm sure about that
Sep 1, 2012 10:11PM PDT

Two people at my ISP told me I ordered 1.6 Mbps. I know for certain I ordered 3.0 Mbps, and 1.6 was never offered to me.

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ISP gave wrong level of service
Aug 31, 2012 9:29PM PDT

I had this ptoblem, called my ISP, and found that when I ordered an upgrade to 3 Mbps, they charged for that, but only gave me 1.6 Mbps. It's strange that their ads don't even offer 1.6 Mbps, which is partway between two of the speeds offered. They said for two dollars more, I could get the speed I wanted, with unlimited telephone service thrown in, so I accepted that. I am left wondering if this is a scam. They say the upgrade will take place next week.

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Cram, not scam
Sep 1, 2012 6:05PM PDT

ISPs don't have to deliver what they say they are delivering. They state "up to" the speed you're buying, but line quality, sun spots, yada yada can slow it down, and you still pay full price. But since they probably have a near monopoly in your neighborhood, you don't have a choice, and they don't have to care.