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

October 31, 2008 9:11 PM

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.

posted by Flying Squirrel to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

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.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:25 PM on October 31, 2008

surfthechannel.com has said that those sites throttle bandwidth outside China during peak Chinese usage times.
posted by jeffburdges at 9:30 PM on October 31, 2008