Video streaming pauses repeatedly?

[moresnowdays]

I have my freshly built PC up and running (specs in sig), all seems good. Being new to Windows 7 I thought I would poke around the net and see what is recommended to optimize it. I came across the following thread;

htthttp://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?63273-*-Windows-7-Ultimate-Tweaks-amp-Utilities-*p://

I followed and did most of what is there, except for the Windows 7 Utilities section.

All seemed to be fine, until I tried streaming video from Netflix. I could start playing the video fine, but every minute or two the video will stop playing (like I hit pause). It will resume right where I left off fine if I hit play again, but will pause a couple minutes later.

I had played other video from places like youtube with out issue, so I'm a little confused as to what could be the problem. My only thought is the RAM cache that I created for Firefox, as directed in the tutorial linked above, is filling up while it's playing, but stopping when full? I not sure if I'm the right track, any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Just to add, Netflix worked perfectly before doing the tweaks in the link, so I think the problem is in there. I just don't want to undo everything if it would be better to correct one thing, unless these are considered bad to do in the first place?

 

[moresnowdays]

Maybe it was just netflix after all. I've tried to play several movies, and I'm not seeing the problem any more.

Do others typically use Dataram with Firefox?

 

[moresnowdays]

It's not dataram, I stopped and reset all that to not use it. I thought maybe it was FireFox, as there is apparently an issue with my 560ti/oc card and FireFox (which I seem to experience where it quickly stops and recovers while surfing on FF).

Dataram stopped, using IE 32bit, netflix streaming still stops. It's like I'm hitting the pause button. Then I actually do hit pause and then play, and the video continues (at least for a few minutes, then repeat).

Any ideas? I've tried reinstalling silverlight, no luck.

 

[TollhouseFrank]

it is a buffering issue. You are probably trying to stream a HD video on not enough bandwidth. Just give it a couple minutes to buffer.

Youtube, on the other hand, is just weird. Doesn't seem to matter how fast your pipe, it is random as to whether it needs to buffer or not.

 

[moresnowdays]

it is a buffering issue. You are probably trying to stream a HD video on not enough bandwidth. Just give it a couple minutes to buffer.

Youtube, on the other hand, is just weird. Doesn't seem to matter how fast your pipe, it is random as to whether it needs to buffer or not.

I'm thinking it has something to do with the buffering to. The thing is that with netflix, when it needs to buffer, it stops the video and a red buffer box appears. Once done updating the buffer, the video continues on.

Mine will do that as well when I tie up the bandwidth with something like using another computer. This is a little different. When the video stops, there's no auto buffering (in fact if you look at the gray play line that shows how far ahead the movie is buffered, I have plenty of room) It is just stopped, and will not resume play on it's own.

 

[TollhouseFrank]

sorry it took a while to get back to this.

That is an issue that has hit Youtube as well. As you buffer the video, it sends down 'flags' that say "you have enough buffered to continue, keep going". Sometimes due to a speed hiccup, the next flag isn't where it is supposed to be and it stops assuming the stream is interrupted.

 

[moresnowdays]

sorry it took a while to get back to this.

That is an issue that has hit Youtube as well. As you buffer the video, it sends down 'flags' that say "you have enough buffered to continue, keep going". Sometimes due to a speed hiccup, the next flag isn't where it is supposed to be and it stops assuming the stream is interrupted.

That makes alot of sense. Works the same for DVD's in the optical drive also, or is that a seperate issue?

 

[c627627]

Streaming video with hickups is sometimes caused by 768 kbit/s or 1.5 Mbit/s internet connection or even slightly higher speeds.

When you upgrade to 7 Mbit/s or 10 Mbit/s these problems often go away.

 

[moresnowdays]

Good to know. I'm not sure what my ISP is, but I'm looking around to switch for a better deal. Biggest problem I have is that I'm in a very rural area. Couldn't even get dish service when I last tried.