Comments on: Why do Chinese streaming video sites shut down after a certain time?

Question: Why do Chinese streaming video sites shut down after a certain time?

Flying Squirrel — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:11:54 -0800

Why do Chinese streaming video sites slow down after a certain time?

When watching streaming video links off sites like surfthechannel.com, many shows are linked to chinese sites such as youku, tudou, etc.

I noticed when I was living in Canada that all of these streams would slow right down (load for a bit, then stop) after 12am EST. Now that I'm in New Zealand, same thing - seems after 12noon in China, they slow down.

Why would this be? American streaming channels still work fine, it just seems to be the Chinese sites that get slow after a certain time.

Anyone else experienced this or know what the reason is? I'm not looking for an alternative, just curious as to what's happening in China.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:25:40 -0800

Could be excessive traffic on the trans-continental fiber that connects the continents. There isnt much capacity connecting Australia to China.

Also, its common for internet traffic to spike between 12am and 1:30pm as everyone with a computer in their office/cube/whatever is on lunch and may be doing some personal surfing.

Internet backbone providers peer with one another and have different agreements. It may be that a major Chinese backbone provider switches routes or something at a certain time for whatever reason.

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:30:12 -0800

surfthechannel.com has said that those sites throttle bandwidth outside China during peak Chinese usage times.