BleepingComputer.com: Slow streaming videos

Hi all,

Recently any videos I've tried streaming (YouTube, Hulu, watch-yuyuhakusho.com ^_^) will load very slowly. Needing to buffer every 5-10 seconds if left streaming. I've always gotten a consistent 2mbps download speed from speedtest.net, and files download anywhere from 100-200kBps still. So I can't imagine it's my Internet connection..because it still seems just as fast as ever. There's been a lot of Flash player updates lately, could those have anything to do with it? I play online games just fine with no lag as well, so I'm convinced it's a Flash player thing. Would you recommend going back to an older version of Flash? I thought I'd ask here before attempting at contacting my ISP just to have them not get back to me -_-.

Using Firefox 4.0.1 on Win7 64bit.

Thanks!

It's normal. Allow the video to load completely and then play it.

Obviously it isn't normal, or I wouldn't have made a topic about it. I've always been able to stream videos with no problem up until a week or two ago, and my internet speed has not changed. I've never had to wait 45 minutes to buffer a 20 minute video. I'm not an idiot.

It could be anything. The point is streaming video is subject to many things including things that are not under your control. It could be the website isn't up to par speedwise. Maybe your ISP is throttling your connection speed. When that happens, streaming media is the first thing affected. There's no quick fix. Brief buffering is normal. I wouldn't go back to an old version of Flash but I might uninstall and reinstall the Firefox extension. Or maybe try the uninstall tool an the Adobe website. Don't know if that will work though.

Have you tried another browser.
Have you cleared your cache; can you increase the size of your cache.
Can you do a system restore back a few weeks.
Is it a malware problem, possibly if it has recently started happening.
As Frank said, your ISP may be throttling your download speed, for some reason, who knows.
Have you upgraded AVG recently, may be worth checking out a different freebie, e.g. Avast or Avira.

It's best to have the latest Flash.

"I work in IT at my college, and am pretty knowledgeable"

So, you should be aware of all these things, but nobody here knows your level of expertise, unless they have
read your profile and every post you have made and looked at any specs stated and that's unlikely to happen, very often.

Usually, it's best if you set out your computer specs and OS and all the steps you have taken,
to try and solve the problem and there may just be suggestions about something which you have overlooked.

I have tried IE, being the only other browser I have installed. Perhaps I'll download Chrome.
I have run CCleaner and cleared all my cache/history/etc.
I'll consider a system restore, doubtful that it's malware but I suppose it never hurts to run additional scans.
I suppose I don't understand how they could be throttling my speeds on just my streaming, because I'm still getting the same download speeds for files, why would streaming be any different? I'll probably throw out an email to them in hopes of a response.
AVG is always up-to-date. I know it can be a resource hog at times, but I have a decent custom system so I'm aware of what I can do. I might try another AV for the hell of it.

I've also used Adobe's uninstaller/reinstalled Flash already.

I figured my machine specs weren't too important for this, because this is something they can definitely handle. I did give my OS, and the 64bit alone should let you know I have a decent system.

I've decided it's a combination of my ISP throttling my speeds and some websites/videos just sucking. This topic can be closed.