Youtube Slow in the day and night.

[MarkyMark]

I've had the fios package for about 3 months now and i've got the Westell router not the Actiontec. For the first couple of months youtube videos have loaded very fast to my satisfaction, but up until now for about 4 weeks and going, youtube videos have been stopping to buffer every second, even the crappy quality videos.

But the thing is its happening during the daytime and night time until 10 pm, after that the videos load extremely fast. But admittedly I have never stayed up to see when the slow down begins again the next day.

So what do you fellow fios users think is the problem.

[spacedebris]

there are lots of possibilities.

First get a tracert to see how it looks between you and youtube

in windows go to the cmd prompt and type  tracert www.youtube.com

Post those results.

Second, have you rebooted or reset the router yet? If not, try.

Third, the problem may not be on your end, it may be on youtube's. the hours that you are seeing issues are the hours when the web site will be at its busiest. Durng the day. At night the number of people going there will drop off, so the load on the servers is reduced allowing them to load faster. Youtube is getting more and more popular so it is not suprising that they would start slowing down.

Last, I dont think this will be the issue since it does get better at night but you may want to try updating your video drivers, and make sure that your Media player is up to date as well.

[MarkyMark]

Here is the tracert for youtube.

http://img7.imageshack.us/i/tracertl.png/

and I'll try to reset the router to see if that works.

Edit: I reset the router but youtube videos are still slow at downloading.

Message Edited by MarkyMark on 08-17-2009 03:15 PM

[CharlesH]

According to your tracert, this doesnt appear to be a network issue. Could very well be an issue with youtubes content delievery servers as reported by users on other forums. [ http://www.dslreports.com/nsearch?q=youtube+buffer ] I get constant buffer here on my FiOS connect + in the office.

May not solve your problem, but may save a call into tech support.

*EDITTTTTTTTT*

Yeah, sometimes you look over the simple obvious things....I'm a little embarassed by my recent post about this

First hop is def thhe problem here. Check some of the things mentioned by the below poster.

Message Edited by CharlesH on 08-17-2009 06:54 PM

[spacedebris]

Charles at first blush, I thought the same thing, until I looked closer. Hop 1.

1   <1ms   4294967294ms  4294967294ms  myrouter.hone [192.168.1.1]

This is the problem right here. This is a problem between the computer and router. 3 possible issues.

1. a problem with the nic card on the computer
2. a problem with the ethernet cable from computer to router
3. a problem with the router

I'd start by replacing the ethernet from the computer to router, and just for the heck of it try plugging into a different port on the router. if the problem continues, then I would hard reset the router. Finally, if possible, I'd connect another computer and do it again.

If the cable fixes it, done

if not then reset the router, if good, done

if not then connecting another computer will let us know if it is the router or computer

[CharlesH]

You are correct.  I didnt even register that part as I was looking for network issues right off the bat.

My mistake.

[MarkyMark]

Hey thanks spacedebris for your expertise, I did everything that you told me to do but youtube is still buffering videos every second. I think its the router, for the first few days of having Fios I ran into a problem with the router, the internet stopped working. As it turns out the router that i was provided with was a defective one. So after calling Verizon, they sent in a repair man to sort out the situation. I dont think the repairman replaced the router but simply just did something to fix the original one, and now it maybe acting up again.

Do you think this is the case? Do I need to be provided with a whole new router?

I know it has nothing to do with my computer because im a advance user and I keep my computer clean of spyware, viruses, etc. but also youtube is also slow on my laptop which uses wifi.

[spacedebris]

Since you have a second computer this will be easy. Now for troubleshooting we need to check this out in a specific way. This is also so you have ammunition to take with you when/if you have to go to tech support.

1. connect your laptop to the router via an ethernet cable. You can either use the same cable that the desktop used or even better get a new cable.
2. run a tracert from the laptop the same as you did with the other computer

If the laptop gets the same type of numbers that are very high at hop 1. Then it is the router. Reset the router by pushing and holding the reset button on the back for 10 seconds and then repeat the tracert. If you get the same results. time to contact tech support for replacement. (you have to do this with the wired connection otherwise they can claim that your comparing apples and oranges, you and I both know better but we have to approach it this way so that we can "prove it" to tech support)

if the laptop doesnt show the same results then you know it is something between the computer and cable. could be bad nic card drivers, a nic card failing, bad windows update, or bad cable.

[markmc]

I second that.  I get great results with the dslreport tests.  I have a wired computer and wireless laptop.  Both buffer.  I had a friend at his house on youtube getting the same thing.  No problems.

My guess.. Verizon is content filtering... perhaps limiting the speed that users connect to certain sites, and Youtube is sitting at #1. Is that close?

-Mark

[spacedebris]

actually that is one of the things that Verizon has going for it above other companies. They dont content filter.

That is why tracerts are so important. they tell us where the possible bottlenecks or slowdowns may be occuring. In the case of MarkyMark there, the tracert told us that the problem is between the computer and router. We know with a great deal of certanty that the problem is one of 3 things, computer, cable, or router.

Now for Markmc, we would need a tracert from you as well before any determinations can be made. Since both you and your friend are having similar issues with youtube, it could be a Verizon issue, or it could be an issue with a youtube server, or it could be a router inbetween Verizon and Youtube. A tracert would give us somewhere to start. I can connect to youtube just fine so it is likely to be an issue in your regional area. But it likely different than the one experianced by MarkyMark as his is a problem inside his house.

Message Edited by spacedebris on 08-19-2009 09:59 AM

[MarkyMark]

Here is the tracert from my laptop hooked to the ethernet cable.

http://img32.imageshack.us/i/41348530.jpg/

And I will wait until your response to see if the laptop has the exact same problem since i don't know how to read the tracert.

Message Edited by MarkyMark on 08-19-2009 04:43 PM

[spacedebris]

No, the laptop is not having an issue.

On the desktop. your hop #1 was 

1   <1ms   4294967294ms  4294967294ms  myrouter.home [192.168.1.1]

On the laptop you have

1  <1ms   <1ms  <1ms    myrouter.home [192.168.1.1]

Of course the blue is what you want to see. With the tracert from the laptop that you submitted, I would assume that the laptop is working fine with youtube.

So what is different from the laptop to the desktop. Did you use the same wire? If so, you need to look at the Nic/computer. If not then I'd use this new wire on the desktop and check it.

[MarkyMark]

The thing is, I get the same problem with youtube on the laptop too, so it's a very peculiar situation.

But I think you're right about the desktop having the problem because everytime I run the tracert consecutively one after another, I get the good result like what you saw from the laptop (<1ms <1ms <1ms) , and the bad result like the one I posted earlier from the desktop ( <42546231ms <42646131) . Maybe this is what is also happening to my laptop too because I've only done one tracert test on it.

It's giving me different results everytime. What do you think of that? Anyways what is the "nic card?" is it the Ethernet card?

Message Edited by MarkyMark on 08-21-2009 11:46 AM

[spacedebris]

"NIC" stands for Network Interface Card. Basically that is the device in the computer that the ethernet cable plugs into. it is what gives a computer access to the outside.

Now as for the problem at hand. If you are having problems with the desktop and the laptop both, it is not likely to be an issue with either. Now we need to look at the router or verizons network, or youtube itself. If you run the tracerts back to back and they constantly give you the <1ms <1ms <1ms, and the higher numbers just was a one time deal, then this connection should be fine. If you get the higher numbers <42546231ms <42646131ms with any kind of regularity and this happens on both the desktop and laptop, then it is likely a problem with the router.

[MarkyMark]

I came to the conclusion that it is the router's fault. I constantly keep getting those long numbers everytime I run a tracert. I'm going to call Verizon to try to get a replacement.

[CharlesH]

Let us know how the new router turns out for you.

[KlassiK]

I have this exact same problem as the OP. It's constant though with youtube, hulu, vimeo, and pretty much all video websites. Even including streaming sites like justintv, blogtv, ufragtv, stickam. Always run into buffering problems. I keep my PC away from spyware, viruses and everything. I even reformatted my pc with a fresh install of XP and it didnt help. My ps3 speed test has low results, and sometimes fails. 300kbp/s download and 1.5mbp/s upload is not acceptable.  I was playing Battlefield 2 on the pc and my ping in a Los  Angeles server was sky rocketing upwords to 300-700ms which before was usually 9-16ms. My PS3 shows all kinds of different results on speed tests though. However my PC speed test's are completely normal, but still run into buffer problems. I even looked at the same video from my PC to my Ps3's web browser and it buffers too. My ps3 and PC are both wired ethernet and not wifi.

10/2 plan

tracert from pc

http://i30.tinypic.com/2cx8cwz.png