why do YouTube videos buffer so slowly?

Question

Seriously.

this is my connection: http://www.speedtest.net/result/712856269.png

There is no way in hell I should be getting buffer problems.

Answer 1

If this is actually happening to you quite often, the

cause may be your own "cache/memory" -- which

could be blocked.



If you are experiencing either: A) slugglish loading

and buffering, B) "choppy" videos which frequently

start/stop/start/stop, C) the YouTube dotted circle

looking like it might spin for ever, or D) videos that

will sometimes come to a sudden "stop" or freeze,

that is often a sign that your cache/memory is full

and cannot take anymore.



Exit out of YouTube (but not your browser) and do

one of the steps below. Afterwards, shutdown and

reboot. Not only will this "free up" your computer's

memory, everything will be "fresh", and load faster:



Internet Explorer 6:

→ Tools → Internet Options

→ Delete Cookies → OK

→ Delete Files → OK

→ Clear History → Yes

→ OK



Internet Explorer 7:

→ Tools → Internet Options → Delete...

→ Delete files → Yes

→ Delete cookies → OK

→ Delete history → OK

→ Close (browsing history window)

→ OK



Internet Explorer 8:

→ Tools → Delete Browsing History

[. ] Preserve Favorites (leave blank)

[x] Temporary Internet files

[x] Cookies

[x] History

→ Delete



Mozilla Firefox 3:

→ Tools → Clear Private Data

[x] Browsing History

[x] Download History

[x] Saved Form and Search History

[x] Cache

[x] Cookies

→ Clear Private Data Now



Mozilla Firefox 3.5/3.6:

→ Tools → Clear Recent History

Time range to clear: → Everything

▼ Details

[x] Browsing & Download History

[x] Saved Form and Search History

[x] Cookies

[x] Cache

→ Clear Now



Apple Safari 3:

→ Edit → Preferences

→ Security (tab) → Show Cookies

→ Remove All → Done

after that:

→ Safari → Empty Cache → Empty

after that:

→ History → Clear History



Google Chrome:

→ Tools (wrench) → Clear browsing data...

[x] Clear browsing history

[x] Clear download history

[x] Empty the cache

[x] Delete cookies

Clear data from this period: → Everything

→ Clear Browsing Data



DON'T FORGET TO SHUT DOWN AND REBOOT

AFTER DOING ONE OF THE ABOVE.



If you have other applications which are running at

the same time, those will slow down YouTube too.

If you have "Torrents", you might want to consider

closing or uninstalling them. A couple people who

chose me as "Best Answer" wrote that everything

worked great after they'd uninstalled their Torrents.

For some reason, simply closing them didn't work.



Also, "Adblock Plus", various Instant Messengers

and every "stupid video accelerator" under the sun

is known to interfere with YouTube.



Another thing you may want to consider is turning

off your anti-virus -- but only momentarily. As long

as you remain on YouTube (and don't scamper off

to other websites), you will be okay, because you

cannot get a virus from YouTube.

Answer 2

It s not your ISP, it s not your cookies or cache, it s not AdBlock and it s not anything on your physical hard drive. It s DASH buffering, which YouTube switched to a few years ago, touting its supposed benefits about better streaming on any kind of network. It breaks videos up into chunks and loads them one at a time. If YouTube doesn t load those chunks fast enough, you get serious buffering issues, even on fast internet connections. The source link is from a blog post that, while not written from a professional position, still explains why DASH buffering is complete and total garbage.

Answer 3

Could be you computer/laptop space, if it is filled with crap and cookies or virues, it will go slow. Could be how strong the signal of your connection is (only applys to wireless)

Could be to do with your computer system, older computer are normally slower

Could be do to with your graphics/sound card, if their outdatted then it will take longer for them to be uploaded.

Could just be to do with how many computers/ laptops are logged onto your internet connection (only applys to wireless) if you have many laptops in your house all logged onto the wireless then it will take a longer time, you may also have neighbours who are hacking into your wireless router, making it slower.

Hope this helps