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A little help? Recently video files have started to re-buffer every 5-7 seconds when watching on say, YouTube. Some videos play right through after short inital buffering, others stop and start all the way through. On videos of my own that I post to my site's server, others, including the support team at the server, can't replicate the problem elsewhere and the videos play fine for them every time.
For me, this is a recent development with no known changes to my computer's configuration. In other words, it dosn't matter what speed or size or anything I have. It worked before.
I have DSL and acccording to I'm running at the speed of a V.92 modem downloading and below DSL speed uploading. Meanwhile Verizon says I'm being fed the correct bandwidth, but again, that doesn't matter-it worked fine until a month ago. Anybody else experience this? Any ideas?

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Dani AI

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Short expert note referencing the thread: ’s report that a TCP‑tweak tool fixed the problem and ’s suggestions (ISP congestion, server load, weather, malware) both point at two common root causes — bursty packet loss/jitter or TCP/MTU/window misconfiguration that forces frequent retransmits and small buffer behaviour. These problems cause video players to rebuffer every few seconds even when headline “download” numbers look low but steady. (cloudflare.com)

Concise troubleshooting sequence that resolves this class of issue:

  • Establish a wired baseline (Ethernet) and compare to wireless.

  • Run an independent capacity/quality test (single‑stream tests for jitter/packet loss like M‑Lab’s NDT as well as a quick Ookla test) and repeat at different times of day.

  • Trace the path and measure per‑hop loss/latency; use tracert or pathping to find where packets are delayed or dropped. Example commands:

    tracert example.com
pathping example.com
ping -n 50 example.com

  • Inspect the DSL/modem statistics (SNR margin and line attenuation) for noisy copper or high attenuation; bad values point to a physical/line problem to escalate to the ISP. (measurementlab.net)

If the problem is machine‑specific, prefer built‑in resets and checks before third‑party “optimizers.” Safe, reversible steps that have fixed many cases:

  netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt
  netsh winsock reset
  netsh int tcp show global

Create a System Restore point and export the registry first; run a full/offline antivirus scan if malware is suspected. Third‑party TCP tools can help on older, misconfigured stacks but they change registry values — keep backups so settings can be restored. (support.microsoft.com)

If a clean wired baseline test shows normal throughput and no packet loss, the issue is upstream (ISP congestion, peering or the origin server) and should be escalated with time‑stamped test logs and traceroutes to the ISP or host provider. (measurementlab.net)

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Member Avatar for MidiMagic

Several thoughts:

1. Your ISP may have acquired a heavy using client that loads down the trunk.

2. The server computer providing the downloads may be deluged with users or spam attacks.

3. The weather can affect DSL speeds.

4. Look for malware.

Member Avatar for Tektoni

;) This tool completely solved my download speed/stuttering video, etc. problem: TCP Optimizer
My download speed jumped from about the speed of a V.92 modem, about 55 kpbs, to the speed of an E1 connection, 2.07 mbsp.
Upload now at DSL speed: 76kpbs
It's freeware and here's a description and link to it:http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

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