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View Full Version : YouTube and iPlayer broken on 10 meg


cook1984
28-04-2011, 20:35
YouTube 480p and iPlayer SD both stop and buffer like mad all the time. I am on 10 meg, not STM'ed, no downloads and is is 7:30PM.

The problem is definitely with VM. I teathered my phone and was able to play videos without problem over 3G from the same computer. I asked some friends on Sky ADSL and they said the videos played fine, so that rules out problems at the YouTube/iPlayer end.

This is a joke. What do I pay for if two of the most popular sites on the internet are unusable? Why are they rolling out higher speeds when they clearly can't cope with the current ones? I will be demanding compensation when I call them tomorrow.

Maggy
28-04-2011, 20:43
Please don't take this the wrong way but have you tried in another browser? I find iPlayer works best in Internet Express..In fact I've given up watching most BBC videos in Firefox.

AaronCooper
28-04-2011, 20:49
I can stream both Youtube HD (720p) and iplayer, etc on my 10mb connection without buffering, whilst using Firefox.

*Puts on flame suit*

Chrysalis
28-04-2011, 20:58
some will tell you, VM have a right to supply a poor service as its apparently cheap.

whats your speedtest result from speedtest.net, also run pingtest.net test and post both back here.

cook1984
28-04-2011, 21:31
Please don't take this the wrong way but have you tried in another browser? I find iPlayer works best in Internet Express..In fact I've given up watching most BBC videos in Firefox.

Tried it, didn't help.

I can stream both Youtube HD (720p) and iplayer, etc on my 10mb connection without buffering, whilst using Firefox.


Well clearly some parts of the network are better than others. No excuse for not investing in the updates though.

some will tell you, VM have a right to supply a poor service as its apparently cheap.

whats your speedtest result from speedtest.net, also run pingtest.net test and post both back here.

VM isn't cheap. My results:

http://www.pingtest.net/result/39572386.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/04/11.png

Connection seems okay speed wise, not sure why the packet loss test failed. I don't see much packet loss when I run my own tests. Newsgroup downloads are quite slow, I need about 12 connections to max out my line. It seems like some protocols and sites are worse than others.

Maggy
28-04-2011, 21:57
So have you had a word in VM's shell like?:)

Chrysalis
28-04-2011, 22:19
to be hionest it doesnt look bad enough that iplayer should break, next time iplayer doesnt work then run those tests again straight away to see if they show a poor result.

cook1984
28-04-2011, 22:23
Will do tomorrow.

General Maximus
28-04-2011, 23:26
i can pretty much guarantee it is due to VM network congestion and not a service/protocol issue. You need to try it around 10 or 11 in the morning and see if it works alright (weekdays) and then if it is screwed in the evening or weekend you know it is due to network congestion, even if it is localised to your area.

cook1984
29-04-2011, 12:41
iPlayer keeps stopping while trying to watch the Royal Wedding.

craigj2k12
29-04-2011, 13:08
try youtube, see if it makes any difference

http://www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel?feature=yoodle

AaronCooper
29-04-2011, 14:01
Is the royal wedding still on? I think your right my area must be good, i haven't noticed any difference in connection.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/04/9.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

http://www.pingtest.net/result/39604920.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

Ps, i think maidenhead server is broken, speedtest.net couldn't test packet loss from there.

Chrysalis
29-04-2011, 14:58
dont know if its still on but speedtest fine here. Will check iplayer performance soon.

cook1984
01-05-2011, 11:56
Still looking quite poor:

http://www.pingtest.net/result/39703658.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/05/151.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Portsmouth isn't due for FTTC upgrades until 31st December 2011, but as soon as it is available I am switching to a truly unlimited and non-retarded ISP. I wouldn't mind paying Virgin a bit more but upgrading to 50 meg won't fix their network problems or remove their traffic shaping.

pip08456
01-05-2011, 12:28
You will be on the legacy network ATM being a 10Mb customer. An upgrade to 30 or 50Mb would put you on the Docsis 3 overlay network.

It may solve your issues.

Robertus
01-05-2011, 12:52
I'd offer to help but some of the comments in this thread are truly laughable!

I'd point at a browser issue to be honest.

It's also interesting to note that I can attempt to watch a video on YouTube and experience slow buffering, but if I refresh I get much faster buffering...not sure if it's connecting to a different, less saturated server.

Chrysalis
01-05-2011, 15:53
ignitions explanation may explain that.

so the first page load gives you a uncached streaming from some distant server which may be also overloaded. Even if you abort I would expect their caching algorithms to be caching that video to a localised server with cached content, the refresh pulls it from the cache instead.

cook1984
03-05-2011, 18:14
Caching doesn't explain why I can watch the same video first on my phone without problems and then afterwards on Virgin's broadband and it buffers all the time. Maybe they use different caching servers but you wouldn't think that it would be enough to make a difference on popular videos, especially iPlayer ones which are always UK based.

Chrysalis
03-05-2011, 20:35
either different caching servers or VM's link to the uncached server is inferior.

cook1984
04-05-2011, 21:27
either different caching servers or VM's link to the uncached server is inferior.

Every single time over a variety of videos from different sources? I checked with 4oD and the problem persists.

I don't know why you are making excuses for VM.

Chrysalis
04-05-2011, 21:31
I am not making excuses, how is suggesting an inferior link an excuse?

are you trying to say every single streaming site has the unusual sympton that it is slow first time but faster on a repeat play?

cook1984
06-05-2011, 21:13
Chrysalis, please go back and read the thread. You have your wires crossed.

Playback on Virgin from any source is poor in the evenings. Playback of the same videos on my phone (Vodafone) at the same quality is fine. To prove the point I tethered my phone to my computer and repeated the experiment, video was fine. Other computers have the same problem on my Virgin connection.

I can't see how it could be anything other than a VM network problem.

Chrysalis
06-05-2011, 21:40
yeah you should have made a new thread as I was adressing the OP's issue really.

if yours is bad all the time full stop then probably just a oversubscribed port for VM not too unusual.

The OP had a specific different issue.