GlueTube, more like...

July 28, 2008 8:44 PM

Why have YouTube videos started loading very slowly for me, and how can I fix it?

For no apparent reason my computer now downloads YouTube videos very slowly. It used to be the case that they'd load at what I think of as "decent broadband speed" - maybe two or three times faster than the length of the video itself. But they now arrive at a pace which is rather slower-than-play-speed, so I can't even hit play and watch the thing normally, let alone skip ahead.

It's a bit erratic though, sometimes it's only a bit slow, sometimes it is PAINFULLY SO. I don't get any problems streaming video from other sites, even HD stuff.

I'm using Windows XP and Firefox 3, no funky add-ons. Any ideas?

posted by so_necessary to technology (7 comments total)

I once had a similar issue that was solved by updating the drivers for my wifi card. Don't know why it started, but updating the drivers stopped it.
posted by JDHarper at 9:25 PM on July 28, 2008

To check whether it's software related or not, boot up with a Linux live CD and see if that makes any difference.

To check if it's to do with your connection or ISP, try a different computer on the same connection.

Once you've done those two tests you should have a good idea of what to investigate further.
posted by malevolent at 11:25 PM on July 28, 2008

I've had the same problem recently. As with you, streaming videos on other sites is perfectly fine.

I suspect that something might be wrong with the site itself.
posted by wigglin at 12:31 AM on July 29, 2008

That's been happening to me too lately. Other sites seem to load fine. (I'm on linux using Epiphany right now).. Definately not loading at 20Mbps
posted by majikstreet at 7:18 AM on July 29, 2008

Some ISPs (Comcast is one, I hear?) have started to throttle back the traffic from high-bandwidth sites like youtube, etc. (Or so I read, but have no lonks to support.)
posted by dontrockwobble at 8:59 AM on July 29, 2008

I've had similar problems but only with Firefox. Sometimes I can't get a video to launch in Firefox but then I open it in IE and it works. I haven't figured out why yet.
posted by any major dude at 1:13 PM on July 29, 2008

I've had similar problems but only with Firefox. Sometimes I can't get a video to launch in Firefox but then I open it in IE and it works. I haven't figured out why yet.

Are you using google web accelerator? Turn it off.
posted by meech at 9:24 PM on July 29, 2008