Video viewing problems

[Cubfan]

I hope people are reading down here.... Anyway,

I'm having problems viewing videos online. The video plays for about 2 seconds and then "buffers" for a good while, plays for a few seconds, buffers, etc., etc.. Very frustrating.

I dont much about computers so if you respond with help, please keep it at the 3rd grade level.

fyi - my computer is in the basement on a Linksys Wireless B and I share a modem with my wife upstairs. She's always working but she's only connected to the internet to use Outlook or whatever. Our internet is provided by the local cable company, "Comcast High Speed Internet".

Oh, and it used to work fine as far as I know, having problems just in the last few weeks.

Any help? This buffering is really frustrating. Thanks!

[Alpha-Dad]

You could try going into your options for whatever program you use to view videos and increase the buffer size to maximum. It will make it take the video a little longer to start, but it shouldn't need to buffer as much during play.

Also, larger videos (higher resolution) will need to buffer alot more than smaller ones. Are these videos that you used to watch faster or is this the first time you've been on this site?

Also, it can be at the server end. If they limit their maximum output bandwidth and there are alot of other people downloading their videos at the same time that can slow you down some.

You could also go to a speedtest site, just to make sure that you're getting good bandwidth through your internet connection to make sure it's not a problem with them. http://performance.toast.net/

Wireless connections can also be touchy as far as losing/gaining signal off and on which could be affecting you. I always use wire for computers that don't move and just wireless for laptops.

[Cubfan]

OK, great. Thanks for the response. I'm going to test all this during the kid's nap. I'll let you know. Thanks!

[craigbass76]

You're on cable internet, which means that in addition to all the stuff in the above post, you've got to worry about how many other people using comcast are online. More people, slower network. Could be one of comcasts routers or whatever is down and they didn't bother saying anything because the internet still works pretty fast.

[Don-Dad]

Do the videos load fine on your wifes PC? Sometimes wireless routers get flaky. You might try resetting the router (just turn it off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on)

Also try what these knowledgeable computer techies said :)

Off topic, anyone have fiber optics run in their neighborhoods. I'm hearing great things about it, a buddy of mine has it, getting 5mb on the download and 768k on the up. For $24.99 a month the first year. It's worth checking, Verizon calls it FIOS.

[Cubfan]

Do the videos load fine on your wifes PC? Sometimes wireless routers get flaky. You might try resetting the router (just turn it off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on)


Good question. If she ever got off her computer I could test it. But that's a good test, thanks for the idea.

BTW, we reset the router just about every other day for whatever reason. We lose connection all the time and have to reset it.

[craigbass76]

BTW, we reset the router just about every other day for whatever reason. We lose connection all the time and have to reset it.


This is indicative of problems. May not be the same problem you're having, but problems anyway.

Is the wep key enabled? Are you using mac filtering? I ask because one of your neighbors might be leeching off your connection, thereby making it slow.

[Alpha-Dad]

Do the videos load fine on your wifes PC? Sometimes wireless routers get flaky.

That's a great suggestion. Cuts the possible problems in half really quickly/easily. :)

[Cubfan]

Ok my wife's laptop (which is also on our wireless connection) is not experiencing this buffering issue like mine is.

This morning my computer is still buffering, but for shorter periods of time (wonder if because there is less traffic on Saturday morning?)

But the result is that my wife is not buffering, and I'm still buffering a little.

So does this point to a "settings" issue? Or maybe because we're sharing the wireless and her computer is closer? My signal strength is usually "very good" or "excellent".

[SideShowCecil]

Not entirely related but...

we reset the router just about every other day for whatever reason. We lose connection all the time and have to reset it.

I had problems with my wireless connection dropping out all the time too. I figured it might be one of my neighbour’s networks interfering with my own; there are three other wireless routers running in range of ours. Changing the broadcast channel in the router’s wireless network settings cleared the problem up.

[Alpha-Dad]

It still could be the wireless.

Try increasing the buffer size in the program options/preferences to max.

You also could delete your temporary internet files and increase the space that temporary internet files can use (in Internet Explorer - Tools > Internet Options > Settings > Amount of Disk Space to Use). Depending on the format of the videos you're watching it could help.