videos on youtube hanging up

[twincat]

When viewing the videos on youtube, they always hang up while I'm viewing. It also occurs when viewing other streaming sites like ESPN360. I was watching the UK/USC game last Saturday and the stream would just freeze periodically. Sometimes I would have to log off and come back on to pick up the game...very frustrating. Does anyone have any idea why this might be occurring. I have Real Player SP and Media Player and I'm not sure which one is involved in viewing these videos.

[twincat]

In explaining the above problem, it is actually worse. All video streaming on both my laptop and desktop freeze during viewing. Both computers have Vista. I have just downloaded updated codecs which didn't help. I don't know whether this is an issue with Vista, IE8, or my media player (I have Real Player, Quick time 7 and Windows Media Player). Has anyone on this forum experienced this issue and if so, how did they resolve it? I have looked on the cusotmer support site for the media players and have not found a solution. Nor, did I find any specific reference to this on troubleshooting Vista. I appreciate any help.. thanks.

Jim

[freethrow]

I am assuming that your pc and laptop are no more than a couple of years old. If so, it shouldn't be a hardware problem with them. But if they are several years old the processor and the video card as well as the network card can cause those kinds of problems.

Something I would do if I were you is to go into MSCONFIG and deselect all the items that you can that load on boot up. If you are one to never mess with MSCONFIG there may be 10 or more things that load when you boot and many eat up system resources like crazy. Uncheck any of the "update" things you see as well as any instant messengers. Also if you have been using music sharing sites like limewire etc be sure to deslect anything related to them. In fact if I were you I would immediately go into control panel and then programs or add/remove programs and uninstall all music sharing software as they are terrible about eating up resources and bandwidth.

I would then download and install Superantispyware free version and clean up possible spyware issues.

Next I would download CCLEANER and run just the cleaner portion of this to remove all the trash files. Note: When you run this it will delete your Cookies and that will require you to enter any passwords again when you visit sites that require them. If you don't remember your passwords you might want to uncheck the COOKIES box. I advise removing them though.

Next I would power off your cable modem or dsl modem for a good 20 seconds and then power back on. Wait 20 seconds and then power off any router you have attached to it for a few seconds and then back on. Reboot your PC/Laptop and hopefully video streaming will improve for you. If not it s possible that your Internet Service Provider is the issue? If using DSL it is common for some to have issues with it when their home is at the extended range limit from the equipment that is feeding you. You may have say 3 meg DSL but are not getting anywhere near that downstream feed. Most providers, if you call them, can do a downstream speed check. Click Here and then click on SPRINT. This testing site is in Chicago and will give you a pretty accurate idea of what your Internet speed is. Sprint is often at full testing capacity so you may have to try one of the others listed and try Sprint later. These tests are good for DSL or Cable or even Satellite.

I hope this helps.

[twincat]

Freethrow, thanks for the pm and the response to my nagging problem. You are right in that neither of the computers are more than two yrs old. I have a friend in the business networking group I belong to and he has been working with me for the last couple of months on some other issues as well as this one. He has gone through all the MSCONFIG hoops and I also have the superantispyware and cccleaner. After making my last post, I started trying to isolate the issue and see if I could track it to one source. Since I have both the desktop and laptop going through the wireless reouter we had considered that my problem might be in my wireless router (Belkin 54) which I had just had replaced by Belkin a few months ago. But the thing that made that not seem like the problem was that when I had my laptop with me on a recent trip to Eastern KY I was trying to watch the UK/SC game on ESPN360 and it kept hanging up on me and I was not connected to my Belkin during that time (obviously). But anyway, out of desperation, I just went back to basics and bypassed the wireless router altogether and connected my cable directly to the desktop through the cable router. Lo and behold the video streams worked in that instance. I did it several times at some length just to make sure and it was good. Then, I hooked my laptop up in the same manner, and IT WORKED. So, I can deduce that the culprit is my Belkin router, even though it is a new replacement. This afternoon I watched two full length movies on Justin TV as well as all the John Wall YouTube videos I have been trying to watch. Then I returned everything to its original state and sure enough the freezing occurred as before. So, my next move is to get back in touch with Belkin and tell them what I have found. If they won't replace this unit with a newer model, then I just may go with another type.

Now that I have all that off my chest, does this make any sense to you? From your post it sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of the technology and your suggestions were exactly what my guru friend down here suggested. Anyway thanks again and I will let you know how things go. Maybe someone on the forum with the same or similar problem can benefit from your advice and my experience.

[freethrow]

It could be that for whatever reason that your wireless nic in that laptop or even your home environment is causing things to be a bit too slow? Wireless signals can be way too picky at times. Wireless is never going to be as fast as wired but there are nic's that do a pretty darn good job. There is a wireless adapter I install for clients that does a terrific job. It's called a GSKY and is reasonably priced. You can order one for under $30 bucks. This one will pick good signal with good transfer speeds when others nearly fail to even connect.
The drawback to this one is that though it plugs into your USB port the antenna itself is wired and sits on the table or desk when using it.

Here is that adapter and it will make a huge difference no matter where in the house. You can be 150 feet outside your house and still get a decent signal.

GSKY
This model is good too if that one is out of stock. 5dbi vs 7dbi. Don't be fooled by others that claim much higher dbi as I have found that most are full of crap.

GSKY
Let me know if you get one of these and how it works for you.

EDIT: I just thought of one other thing you may want to try if you haven't already. Use a different Ethernet cable than you currently are using between your cable modem and your router. Once in a while I have seen a bad cable as the cause for poor connection speed.

Also, if you get one of the above Wireless adapters be sure and go into your device manager and disable your on board wireless adapter. I would disable the internal Ethernet adapter too if it is not being used.

[twincat]

Thanks for the information on the adapters. I will likely get the first one you listed. As I understand the details I read about the adapter, it does not replace the router I have, it just enhances the signal, is that right. If so, I will order the adapter and wait to see how that works before I try to deal with Belkin. Regarding the ethernet cable, that is one of the first things we tried. Thanks again for your help.

Jim

[freethrow]

Originally Posted by twincat

Thanks for the information on the adapters. I will likely get the first one you listed. As I understand the details I read about the adapter, it does not replace the router I have, it just enhances the signal, is that right. If so, I will order the adapter and wait to see how that works before I try to deal with Belkin. Regarding the ethernet cable, that is one of the first things we tried. Thanks again for your help.

Jim

Correct, your router stays the same. That adapter should help. The least it will do is give you good signal strength anywhere in your house. Hasn't failed me in that regard yet.

[twincat]

Thanks man, I'll keep you posted.

[twincat]

Freethrow, my techie friend just left and I think we have resolved the problems I had. We also installed the GSKY adapter you recommended and not only does my laptop work out of the house and down the street a bit, it picked up about 13 other wireless routers that don't even show up without using this adapter. Listed below are the changes he made

Fixes for the streaming video issues:
- Update of the router firmware.
- Set a fixed wireless channel setting that wasn't already being overtaken by the area (originally set to Auto).

Fixes for Desktop connection issues:
- New Ethernet cable (the old one was not properly made. Correct color sequences but the cable was pulling free from the RJ45 jack)
- Reapplication of network settings

So far no issues after the changes.

I have no idea how things got so far out of kilter but maybe all the changes he made didn't contribute to correcting my issues. But I had some other issues not mentioned that he corrected also. I was showing complete John Wall YouTube clips that I had not been able to do so far, and I ran about 1/2 hour of a movie just to see. Thanks again for your help. I hope this information is helpful to someone else who may be having a similar problem.

Jim

[freethrow]

Sorry I had not responded as I just noticed that you replied.

It's great that you have good streaming now. I am also glad that you got that adapter and have such good signal now. I have also been told by clients that they find many more routers now. It's great if you want to steal internet from those that are not using any security on their router. I have a friend that hasn't had to pay for Internet for a couple years and gets 85% signal strength in his apartment complex. There are 20 or more routers showing for him there and about 8 without security. He has the GSky of course.

[twincat]

yeah, I'm cruising along at warp speed now. My tech friend had heard of the GSky but didn't know much more than the hype about it, but when he saw it in action he said " Man I've got to have one of those". He has some clients that really need something like it. Incidentally, he's somewhat of a college BB fan and when he saw the YouTube videos of John Wall that I was having difficulty watching, he has become an awestricken fan of the Cats for this year.

[freethrow]

Originally Posted by twincat

yeah, I'm cruising along at warp speed now. My tech friend had heard of the GSky but didn't know much more than the hype about it, but when he saw it in action he said " Man I've got to have one of those". He has some clients that really need something like it. Incidentally, he's somewhat of a college BB fan and when he saw the YouTube videos of John Wall that I was having difficulty watching, he has become an awestricken fan of the Cats for this year.

Yeah, there are a lot of reasonably priced wireless adapters out there that make great claims but fail to deliver. So far, especially for the price, the GSky delivers better than any of them. Next would be one the Hawking models but they are more expensive and do not deliver as well. I do like Hawkings Range Extender though. You have to set it up while plugged into the router but then it doesn't need to be wired to work. Just has to have a good signal to the router. Great for putting a floor above the router etc. You might tell your buddy about it. Hawking Range Extender.
Glad you're warping now.