Youtube issues
 

Hey guys, been having issues with youtube lately, I cant buffer any video UNLESS I actually watch it, even then it will only buffer about 30 seconds until the progress bar gets to that point then it buffers again. Any thoughts would be appreciated :)

Win7 x64
Chrome 18.0.1025.162 m
Everything up to date as far as I know.

I have AVG identity package, and it tells me after being on the internet for a while, to shut down the internet and re-open it for faster performance. You may want to try and shut down your computer once in a while to clear RAM as well. We also shut off our modem/router nightly and once a day for at least 20 minutes-----it does not work good when hot.
As far as You tube, select a lower quality setting when watching video.

It refuses to buffer itself on 240p LOL, and maybe your onto something about the heat.......the router AND modem are up in the cupboard out of the way, maybe they are just getting too hot, I did check that just now BTW :P I know the router isnt the greatest but its better than running a cable to the modem. Think I may change the router passkey since I also saw a MAC addy that I didnt know when I checked the stats, maybe someone is stealing internet too. Will give an update in about an hour on how its going.

Also wireless is slower than direct ethernet cable. I noticed a difference when I changed to direct cable in overall speed.
You Tube streaming is one of the most demanding on the computer. You tube is also getting bigger and they probably have a problem handling the demand as well.

Click on this to see your internet speeds: Ping Test, Speed and Latency Test - ping-test.net click on start.

My wireless was: 3.77 Download, .34 Upload, 185 Latency.

Wired via Ethernet cable: 13.29 Download, .45 Upload, 115 Latency
and another wired test was: 34.78 Download, .78 Upload, 48 Latency

Currently, finding this Mazda Forum to be really slow in response (3:25 pm). 6:10 pm much better.
One thing you could do, is buy a timer to automatically shut off overnight. You could also put a small 3 inch fan in your cupboard close to the router/modem to help keep it cool. Hook the fan up to the timer as well. You'll have to cut a hole in your cupboard and mount fan to it with some screws and silicone (for vibration).

Sorry for the delay on getting back, had some.........power issues as in the whole house went dark when I bumped a junction box in the cupboard the modem router are in and it blew nice pretty sparks everywhere....................... scared the you know what out of me!!! Blew out the main breaker so bad it wouldn't hold closed and since it was late in the day I couldn't get a new one in time, got one now though this morning and put it in, seems the landlords did a "good" job on the renovation but slacked on the electrical, apparently my whole upper floor is all on ONE breaker cause it was easier than putting a new panel in, I am no electrician but when you have many wires running to one breaker that raises flags in my head. Electrician is coming over today also to inspect the "dead" circuit that was actually live and remove/replace any wiring needed. Just glad I have a battery backup on the PC, could save my stuff and shut it down right.

Ok back to the topic, wireless speeds;
Download - 5.85 MB/s
Upload - 0.46 MB/s
Large/Small Packet Latency - 132ms/45ms 88ms-avg

Will get wired speed when I use the laptop today.

When I watch the network in Net Balancer my speed looks like a saw-tooth pattern, always spiking high then low then high then low, never really smooth, was the same with the speed tester, the needle was going high low high low etc. I know we are not getting what we pay for for speed but you rarely ever do.

Still cant buffer anything on youtube though when pause, only buffers when playing and just barely stays ahead most of the time.

That's scary. Good luck with electrical. I hope you have surge protection on your power bar for your computer and TV.
You Tube is very big and they may have problems handling demand.
A higher download speed will also help.

Ok I THINK I may have it figured out, the router I have wasnt the most expensive......actually was the cheapest I could get really (TL-WR1043ND - Welcome to TP-LINK) and I think this is where my problems are coming from. I have the following connected to it (not all at once mind you):
2 Desktops, 3 Laptops, 4 iPhones (sometimes up to 8), 2 Nokia X6s, 1 Xbox 360 and occasionally a friends device.

From what I have been able to figure out is the router can NOT handle all the traffic at once, it can handle it fine (and youtube works fine) if its only the 2 Desktops and a phone or two but once the items connected to the router increase so does the latency of all my connections, it gets to the point where the router resets itself (Windows shows no connection) and I usually have to manually unplug and plug the power back into the router to get it to reboot. After that its fine for a bit then its back to the problems.

This does not explain everything though for there are times where youtube will buffer extremely slowly only to pick up speed halfway through, it can be nerve wracking trying to download something only to watch your speed go from 780KBs to 50KBs with spikes up to 200KBs...........talk about frustrating.

There IS a new firmware out for my router, I just have to get my laptop up there and install it with the laptop cabled in and not wifi, I hope the update fixes some of these issues. I have been thinking of getting a Netgear router since I have always had good results with them and never issues like this before.

That's quite the load on your router. Around here we unplug the router every night for 8 hours and once during the day. A timer would be great for this.
Getting hardwired up to your laptop will definitely help speeds.
You may still have some issues with You Tube but not as many. You Tube has grown big time and it is hard for them to supply perfect streams all the time. Watching video streams is one of the computer's hardest things to do.