Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

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

- Collapse -
check software updates
Sep 1, 2012 1:44AM PDT

I often find that programs such as Adobe are frequently updating without asking for permission. The competition for system resources will cause videos to freeze and stutter.

- Collapse -
Check your RAM memory
Sep 1, 2012 4:10AM PDT

I have an older laptop and it has integrated video rather than a separate video card. I was having many of the issues you mentioned and my internet connection speed was fine. I recently upgraded from 2GB of memory to 4GB and not only did it solve my streaming issues, it sped up my whole system, To find out how much RAM your computer will handle, and what type to buy, go to www.crucial.com and enter your computer information. It will tell you what you need to know. Installing RAM is very easy and you can find step by step instructions on youtube.

- Collapse -
Not the problem
Sep 1, 2012 6:01PM PDT

RAM has nothing to do with the issues described here. HD video streams at about 5 megabytes per minute, so ten minutes completely buffered in RAM would only be 50 megabytes. Maybe if you have less than 256 meg, but anything more than that and it's not the problem.

- Collapse -
Video streaming
Sep 1, 2012 5:41AM PDT

Hi Cindy,
Not sure what your internet speed is, but I had the same issue, and CNET Forums recommended that I bump it up. After I called my provider and did just that, I had ZERO buffering issues. Hope this helps.

- Collapse -
Convert to Unbuntu
Feb 28, 2014 12:19AM PST

I have the same problems on windows computers. I converted the exact same compute to Unbutu Linux 12.01 and I have no issues with stearming internet content!

-