Youtube Download Slowing Down Causing Buffer possible CDN issue

[roofed]

So For the Past Few Days I have Noticed Youtube Is not watchable i did some testing and nothing points to my connection having a problem this all points to youtube/rogers CDN servers failing as some "Stream Host" seem to be working but almost all of them dont. This problem is on browsers as for trying this on mobile android youtube app 720p60 seems to hold a stable 13mbps while on pc 1080p60 seems to start @ 50000kbps to a min 1000kbps. My internet speed is fine line quality is good while doing the test i had twitch.tv streams running on source no drops nothing in bandwidth flow same for downloading tested on multiple browsers Firefox| Chrome

Below is a gif showing what happens Notice how the "stream host" changes and bandwidth begins to drop

https://gfycat.com/GrimyGiddyKagu

***Edited Labels***

[blackjack3]

Same issue with slow internet every evening from 7pm to 11pm. Getting fed up with their tech support, every time you call in. Have you rebooted your modem ? Yes been there done that. And then we will open a ticket about your problem only to never hear back or resolve any issues. But still take your money for 150 mbps while only getting 8mbps nightly. Time to move on I guess

[57]

@blackjack3 : Are you saying that you're only getting 8 mbps on a wired Ethernet connection via a computer directly connected to the modem?  That's how you should be doing any speed testing because that tells you what the modem is getting at your home.  If you're talking about WiFi, then it may be a WiFi issue, which is a totally different matter and can have many causes.

Rogers, like all providers now typically gives you the speed you pay for, if not a bit more, especially if you're not on the 1 Gbps service, since Rogers needs to at least get those people close to what they pay for.  Here are the results of the most recent testing:  

https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-television-telecommunications/news/2020/09/canadian-consumers-are-rec...

Here are some posts that may help you diagnose your issue.

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet-Knowledge-Base/Troubleshooting-a-Slow-or-Intermittent...

See also the following additional troubleshooting/information posts:

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet-Knowledge-Base/tkb-p/Getting_connected@tkb

During COVID-19 there may be some issues in your neighbourhood, but certainly nothing that provides you with only 8 mbps service. Each time I run a speedtest I get close to 500 mbps down, due to speedboost on my 300 mbps service.   On a long download/stream, it starts at 500, then ramps down after a few seconds to the 300 that I pay for.

[blackjack3]

Yes the speedtests are done wired directly to the modem.The wireless test speeds are pretty much the same.A tech has been out and swapped the modem. Thing is its only happening from 7 till 12 at night.The tech is here at noon and its fine.I don't know how they expect to troubleshoot the issue without being here when I am having the problem not mid day when its ok.

[RogersTony]

Hello, @blackjack3

Welcome to the Rogers Community Forums!

I can imagine how difficult it is to enjoy your internet service when the speeds are that slow. We definitely want to work with you to see what is causing these slow speeds. We'd like to run some tests on your node to see if we can detect any significant issues during the time frame that you've described.

Please send a private message to @CommunityHelps so we can get started on this for you.

Not familiar with our private messaging system? No worries, click here.

RogersTony

[blackjack3]

Thanks for the reply.They have seemed to have fixed the problem as it has been fine for the past week. Talked to others and they were having the same problem but it is ok now also.

[Joxer]

YouTube slows down all the time - sometimes less than 500kbps while I can speed test at 900mbps when the issue happens. This is nearly all evening. Wired and non wired devices, MacBooks, series X, OLED TV, PS4, iOS devices, you name it. I am sick and tired of Rogers having no troubleshooting and taking no responsibility for their speeds for this service. It's like a car with 500hp when it's on the dyno that only has 50 when you drive it on the street.

[Joxer]

Note that those speeds mean I would at this sad point love it if this only meant my 4k YouTube were throttled to 1440 or 1080. Often I fall back to 480 or even 360! This looks sweet on my 65 inch OLED, 1995 internet on 2020 tech. And when this happens I'm not cursing YouTube/Google - it's Rogers. Between this and the entire internet connection shutting down several times a day for a few minutes and zero support I'm really starting to hate them.

[Andrew211]

I have the same issue on a 4k Oled TV with Gigabit wired ethernet connect. Every evening from 7- 11pm Youtube throttles down to 1080p or less. 4K stutters out completely and is un watchable.

[57]

I'm not sure this is a Rogers issue.  I'm subscribed to Rogers Internet (legacy digital cable)  at 300 down, 20 up.  When I do a speedtest, I almost always get 500 down, 22 up.  I just tested this at 7:21PM and got the same results.

This afternoon I was able to connect to YouTube at around 150 mbps on my Mac Mini connected via Ethernet and was able to stream 4K content no problem. There was lots in my "buffer". However, I was just connected to YouTube at 7:21PM and was only able to connect there at about 10-20 mbps - less than what's needed for 4K, but plenty for 1080P.  This may be a YouTube bandwidth issue rather than Rogers, as I discussed in posts 168 and 170 of this thread.  There may be more people streaming from YouTube at peak hours and they can't handle that load, dropping to 1080P.

To see download/connection speeds on your computer, right click on the YouTube video when it's playing and go to "stats for nerds". You can see similar information on a TV by clicking the three dots and stats for nerds.

[FiberOrNothing]

Also having buffering issues. Speeds will be 100-300mbit/sec in the "stats for nerds" page and then drop to 3,000-7,000 and start buffering for 5 minutes. then it goes back to normal. Please fix this. I have gigabit internet.

[57]

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@FiberOrNothing wrote:

...Speeds will be 100-300mbit/sec in the "stats for nerds" page and then drop to 3,000-7,000 and start buffering for 5 minutes. then it goes back to normal.

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When this happens, have you checked your Rogers Internet speed to see if it's the source of the issue or whether it's something else?  I assume you're connected via Ethernet when testing?

https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/internet-speedtest

[forcefed]

This is a Rogers YouTube cdn issue, the problem goes away when using a vpn, Rogers won't admit it so this discussion is pretty pointless and so are their reps since they have no idea how things in the background work.

[57]

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@forcefed wrote:
1. This is a Rogers YouTube cdn issue, the problem goes away when using a vpn,

2. Rogers won't admit it so this discussion is pretty pointless and so are their reps since they have no idea how things in the background work.

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1. Are you talking about using the YouTube App on Ignite?  If so, then that is a completely different scenario from what other people have discussed - namely YouTube on a Computer, or YouTube using a TV app or other separate device.

2. Please enlighten us.

[ColdGranite]

We were watching a 2-hour live YouTube presentation last evening on the Ignite app, and it would frequently freeze video for just a second or two, but no problem with the audio.

Checked Youtube via a browser on the computer, and it was no different.

Regular Ignite TV was fine, however.

[forcefed]

1. Im talking about using youtube in general on rogers, whether through an app or browser or sitting on a golden toilet.

2. explain to me why using a vpn fixes this issue, also using a 3rd party isp through rogers also fixes this issue. I went to carrytel two years ago and youtube is perfect on a 75mbit connection yet my 500mbit rogers connection runs like dialup on youtube https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet/Youtube-Download-Slowing-Down-Causing-Buffer-possible...

3. why is a 4 year old thread still have people posting the same issue to it?

[alloverthemapMG]

Bingo!

Same experience here in Ottawa.
No problems on Carrytel (Both DSL and Cable) and Virgin (DSL).

Same equipment. Only difference is the ISP. Have already swapped out modems. Sent in logs etc. This was the reason I left Rogers last year. Came back due to a promotion only to find the issue hasn't been corrected. Smh

[57]

If Rogers is indeed throttling YouTube at prime time, you may wish to contact the CCTS:

https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/cprstccts.htm

[FiberOrNothing]

Why has their yet to be a rogers engineer in here commenting on the issue? It blows my mind that this is legal. I've had rogers 3 times over the past 5 years and this has been an issue EVERY TIME. They have no problem charging full price for a service that can't even do basic functionality. 

There is ZERO reason for my youtube to be buffering. I'm connected via internet (and so was the other 3 machines I tested), changed my dns servers, put rogers into bridge mode and plugged it into my $700 router and youtube still buffers.

It randomly goes from 200,000-300,000kbps and then will drop to 3,000-7,000kbps and that's when the buffering starts. It obvious throttling on rogers part because conveniently 3,000-7,000kbps is enough for 1080p YouTube which is default quality on most devices. They bet on the average person to not change the quality manually and it shows.

[RogersCorey]

Hello @FiberOrNothing!

If you're having difficulties streaming on YouTube, I can troubleshoot with you.

Is this happening with the native YouTube app or is it happening when you're using it through Ignite TV?

When you encounter buffering, are you also experiencing a general slowdown of the Internet or is it literally only YouTube that's slowing down?

Does this behaviour also happen with your computer directly connected to the modem via Ethernet, bypassing your router entirely and with Rogers default DNS? 

Please let me know.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[Joxer]

@RogersCoreyBeen through this again recently, troubleshooting, etc.  There seems to be no point.  The only thing I believe that would completely resolve the issues with YouTube which you've had for years and won't admit to is to go buy a router with ExpressVPN capability.  Bypassing whatever you guys do with YouTube.  The speed of your service is not the issue.  Wired or not wired is not the issue. Happens to every single device, speed drops down even below 1mbps sometimes when a Speedtest run at the same time shows 750+Mbps.  I had a video drop to 160p the other day - this is ridiculous.

Of course the other thing I could do is just switch providers.

[MadFerIt]

Very frustrated by this. I recall about 2 years ago it was difficult to get 4K youtube streams to work without buffering issues, but I could always downgrade the quality to 1080p and get it to stream without issues. But this was actually fixed and for quite some time I had no issues.

But over the past 1-2 months I'm constantly getting buffering on youtube videos at 720p, 1080p, and 4k.. It's a constant thorn in my side because I basically use youtube as an on-air TV replacement with my channel subscriptions, and I'm signed up for youtube premium just so I don't have to put up with ads.

This buffering problem happens no matter what device I'm using, whether it's wired or wireless, and I have no other issues with my connection. Everything else works great, and there's absolutely no issues when streaming 4k HDR content from Netflix, Prime, AppleTV+, and Disney+. Only youtube is the problem.

I wish I had a router with VPN client capabilities so I could workaround whatever this issue is on Rogers end, but I don't. If this isn't resolved I don't think I have any choice but to switch to Bell because again, I do watch a lot of content on youtube and constantly buffering is unacceptable.