YouTube & Netflix Fails to Buffer / Load / Play

MegaMan3k

Honorable
Apr 16, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hello everybody.

I have seen a few similar topics on this issue, but unfortunately they've all been closed either for a solution posted or "YouTube's problem". I hope that I can provide enough details to either substantiate a difference in my problem or possibly prove that the problem is not on the content-host's end.

The problem
problem
YouTube and Netflix fail to buffer and play media. Youtube's failure to buffer appears to be independent of quality - I can play a video no better at 240p than I can at 1080p. Netflix can usually play at minimum quality with minor issues. Sometimes, Netflix will play at full HD with only infrequent drops in quality. I have not noticed a "time-of-day" dependence on issues. I have issues at 6AM MST, 5PM MST, 8PM MST, Midnight, and even as late as 1 or 2AM MST - I think that should prove representative, although I am missing the "at-work" time period.

YouTube appears to "load" between 0-100 kbps (per the Show Video Info panel). Although it will occasionally blip to >500 kbps or remain at 0 kbps for long duration of time.

time-frame
The time frame for this is recent. Although I've had blips in the past, the magnitude of issues has grown substantially. I cannot play YouTube videos at all at this point. I hope that the following two pictures will show the intermittent, but generally downward trending issue.
http://i.imgur.com/JlJIiZL.png
http://i.imgur.com/Ukp9ri5.png

my ISP
Of course, on any subject like this, I must first vet my service. I have 25 down / 3 up / low ping (17 ms from SpeedTest, 40ms from Youtube.com, 60ms from Google.com) from Comcast in Salt Lake City, Utah. This isn't a powerhouse connection by any means, but it should be sufficient to stream content. My computer and my Xbox360 are connected by ethernet cable; I have a PS3 connected by wifi. I have a modem/router combo Motorola SBG6580.

The GameTrailers.Com Curve Ball
So this is one of the points that I find utterly bizarre and one of the two main points of evidence that has me suspecting an issue in my network configuration. GameTrailers.com allows the option of a "progressive" or "streaming" option for their videos. When I try to play a video with the "Streaming" option, the video "plays" at the lowest quality and with frequent stuttering. When I play with the "Progressive" option, it plays in HD and without a single (perceived) dropped frame. I have seen some google searches turn up that "Streaming" has a max quality of 720p and "Progressive" has a max quality of 560p. I don't think the quality difference could be contributing to this issue because the quality "Streaming" loads for me is well below 720p (if I had to visually guess - it's either 240p or maybe 360p), and it fails to play regardless.

The 4G Comparison
On my phone (HTC Droid DNA), I have tried to load YouTube over Wifi and over 4G. Over wifi a representative video took over a minute to begin playing and stopped playback at 0:02, when it resumed the "buffering" icon. On 4G, the video loaded instantly and I could freely skip throughout the video and play without issue. I want to believe that this removes the content provider as the source of the issue. But I know that m.youtube.com and www.youtube.com could have any number of differences between them.

YouTube SpeedTest
For whatever reason that I cannot begin to understand, the YouTube Speed Test video plays perfectly and loads incredibly fast. Please see "Miscellaneous" at the bottom for more details.

Other Content Providers
(XBox360) HBO Go plays flawlessly on my Xbox360, playing in max HD without any hitches or interruptions.
(PC & Xbox360) Hulu typically plays well, although does not always maintain full HD video.
(PC) Apple Trailers / Quicktime can play a 1080p trailer instantly and without hitches or stuttering.

Attempted Solutions I've Tried

- I have cleared my C:\Windows\Temp folder
- I have tried multiple browsers - FireFox, Chrome, Internet Explorer.
- I have tried multiple platforms - iPad 4, HTC Droid DNA, XBox360 (ethernet), PC (ethernet)
- I have verified that I have the latest version of Flash
- I have cleared my cache, history, and cookies from Chrome
- I have tried the CDN IP Blocking solution
- I have tried power cycling my router
- I have tried "turning it off and on" for each browser, platform, and piece of hardware in between
- I have tried disabling firewalls
- I have tried disabling ad-block
---- (NOTE - pre-video ads on YouTube play without an issue, and then when the actual video begins, it fails to load)

Conclusion
I have exhausted my limited knowledge of networking, and I have exhausted my competency of using Google to discover a solution. From what I can discern, it would seem to me that a certain method or protocol of streaming videos is failing to come through my network for a reason that I do not understand well enough to even diagnose or investigate.

Please let me know if there are any additional details that I have missed. And please let me know if there is any test or experiment that I can perform. I am more than happy to try it and report back.

Thank you,
MegaMan3k

Miscellaneous

Some copy and pasted "Video Info" panels from YouTube

Random video
timestamp seconds 4.796
320x240, 284 average kbps, 46% volume
TagStreamPlayer, HTTP, 197 kbps
24 stage fps, 0 video fps, 3 dropped, 0 kbps
accelerated video rendering, software video decoding
NaN db, 1 audio factor

YouTube "Speed Test" Video
mestamp seconds 9.466
320x240, 164 average kbps, 100% volume
HTTPVideoPlayer, HTTP, 22090 kbps
10 stage fps, 31 video fps, 0 dropped, 0 kbps
accelerated video rendering, software video decoding
NaN db, 1 audio factor

New Star Trek trailer
amp seconds 7.507
1280x720, 502 average kbps, 100% volume
HTTPVideoPlayer, HTTP, 0 kbps
24 stage fps, 0 video fps, 0 dropped, 0 kbps
accelerated video rendering, software video decoding
NaN db, 1 audio factor

Services that "Generally" Work
Hulu
HBO Go
Spotify (audio streaming without a problem)
Steam (Not streaming, but >2MBps downloads on Steam)
GameTrailers.com PROGRESSIVE streaming

Services that "Generally" do not work
Youtube.com (biggest problem - literally cannot play any video, unusable by any means)
Netflix (annoying, but will at least play at minimum quality nine times out of ten)
GameTrailers.com STREAMING streaming
 

garrettk4

Honorable
May 31, 2012
432
0
10,810
I have a similar issue. We both have the same internet speed only mine is verizon fios. Ever since they said I could get the new 50/25mbps upgrade for only 10$ more a month my internet has been slow as hell on youtube and loading videos. I didn't upgrade because I already pay them enough for my service.

I too have tried all of his suggestions.
 

avacadobread

Honorable
Dec 27, 2012
89
0
10,640
I know that some ISP's re-route YouTube web traffic through their own servers, and not through Google's own YouTube servers. Regardless of your connection speed things will be extra slow because you are visiting the site on a crowded and loaded server. This is the only reason your experience on YT seems to be worse regardless of what your internet speeds are.

I'll try and find the solution for you guys, but I saw that information on a video on The Tek on TekSyndicate's YouTube channel(good source for tech knowledge). I can try to go through the videos myself, but each of them is about 30 minutes long, and there are at least 50 of them. However you can try to look into the subject and see if it does help. After all, by the sounds of it, your YT time can't get any worse.

Try the link. It provides some insight on the subject and maybe can help you find an answer since I more than likely won't be able to help very much.
http://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/196239/block_time_warner_cable_stream_throttling/
 

MegaMan3k

Honorable
Apr 16, 2013
2
0
10,510


Hi Avacadobread,

Thanks for your reply.

This issue was what I referred to in my original post as blocking the CDN IP addresses. I don't know much about the subject other than what I read in the tutorial to fix it.
The tutorial I followed to do this is here: http://mitchribar.com/2013/02/how-to-stop-youtube-sucking-windows-guide/

However, I did use the IP ranges in the articles. Some people claim that it worked for them on Comcast/Xfinity, but it seemed intended for Time Warner and I do question if maybe mine are being routed to different servers, possibly regionally. Is there any way I could check that? Could this solution have failed to solve the problem for me because the IP ranges used are not appropriate for my situation?

Thanks,
MegaMan3k
 

avacadobread

Honorable
Dec 27, 2012
89
0
10,640
You can check it in the command box, but what you need to type in there to check those IP addresses has eluded me.
On another note, do you have another computer that you can check out YouTube on? I ask because when ever I go to my friends house my laptop has no problems loading any video, while his custom desktop that is hooked up can't seem to load anything well.