View Full Version : Trouble With Moving Images
Can anyone advise when trying to watch any type of moving image from the internet on my laptop I find I only see a few seconds and then the picture freezes. I then have to wait until it starts to show again or sometimes says reload video. I have been told this is to do with broadband in the north but I didnt think this would be the problem as I am only a short distance from the exchange.
Can anyone advise when trying to watch any type of moving image from the internet on my laptop I find I only see a few seconds and then the picture freezes. I then have to wait until it starts to show again or sometimes says reload video. I have been told this is to do with broadband in the north but I didnt think this would be the problem as I am only a short distance from the exchange.
u need to find out how fast your connection is not what u have payed for but actual speed
Thanks Eddie. I am a complete novice at computers. I am paying AOL £19.99 a month and not very happy with the service . I know several locals getting just as good a service as me for £14.99 monthly. How do I know what speed I am actualy getting?.
Do you have a broadband connection? Or are you still on the old dial up? You pretty much need broadband to watch videos online. It also depends on the website server speed and location that you are watching videos from.
Yes wireless broadband. Hardly ever use wireless as often loose the conection in the middle of something.
plasticjock
21-Apr-09, 14:20
Thanks Eddie. I am a complete novice at computers. I am paying AOL £19.99 a month and not very happy with the service . I know several locals getting just as good a service as me for £14.99 monthly. How do I know what speed I am actualy getting?.
Try http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/ for a speed test, download & upload.
Try the test at different times of the day to get an average.
Tried as you Plasticjock. First result download speed 220 upload 259 few minutes later download 264 upload 252. All a mystery to me.:lol:
sounds like your are on the slowest broadband at 256kbps.
see here:
http://www.samknows.com/broadband/checker2.php
TBH: £20PCM is outrageous for 256, i'm paying £17.99 for 3-5mbps thats 12-20 times faster for less money!
use the site above and find out what you can get.
the other question is, has it always done this?
or was it once faster or better at playing videos
dx
dx
plasticjock
23-Apr-09, 18:02
Tried as you Plasticjock. First result download speed 220 upload 259 few minutes later download 264 upload 252. All a mystery to me.:lol:
Have you tried re-installing from disk your broadband set up?
If it is still the same then your ISP may be throttling your connection (not unknown, although they will deny it).
Myself, I get a fairly measly 2mb from my ISP but that isn't down to them, it's because I live 6km from my exchange, right on the limit.
Just checked it again. Tonight I am getting download 198 kbps upload 218kbps. Looks even worse. When I first got broadband disc I got was faulty and broadband would not install. On calling AOL I was told my laptop must be to blame. My neighbour who knows a lot more about computers than me told them that laptop was almost new this was when they said instalation disc must be to blame they then talked him through instalation. It has always been like this hopeless at playing any sort of moving image. When trying it plays a few seconds then a message says buffering which lasts a while plays a little more buffers again and so it goes on until I get fed up and sign off.
plasticjock
25-Apr-09, 18:21
Just checked it again. Tonight I am getting download 198 kbps upload 218kbps. Looks even worse. When I first got broadband disc I got was faulty and broadband would not install. On calling AOL I was told my laptop must be to blame. My neighbour who knows a lot more about computers than me told them that laptop was almost new this was when they said instalation disc must be to blame they then talked him through instalation. It has always been like this hopeless at playing any sort of moving image. When trying it plays a few seconds then a message says buffering which lasts a while plays a little more buffers again and so it goes on until I get fed up and sign off.
It might be worthwhile getting the BT engineer to check your connection.
By the time your upload is more than your download you have a major problem. This is very abnormal
Has this always been the same ?
If no then
Time to use your antivirus and spyware scans. Also check for other conflicting internet software,
Like DX100 said, for £19.99 you should be expecting 5mb+ download, at the moment your being robbed.
Have to say that AOL has always been a no no for me, to many issues and crap sofware in the past (personal opinion).
ADVICE: cancel imedietly: go for BT or Tiscali or Virgin. All fairly proven in the caithness area to be pretty decent.
Checked speed again this morning and early aftrnoon . Download 6279 Upload352 in morning slightly back afternoon. Tonight 599 and 283 seems to change a lot at different times of day.
well it shows you can get good speed then.
puzzled by evening slowdown though, indicates the contention ratio on their line is wrong.
or you have someone near your hitting it very hard.
i'd call them back and tellthem you can get 6mbs at xx time of day, but later it grinds to a halt.
it might just be worth your while to run a cleaner type proggy on your lappy too.
either ccleaner or glary utils, might well clean out a stack of temp files and a like you have on the lappy
give it a try, i'd use glary as it has a one hit wonder button.
dx
After now testing my speed over a lot of days I am now finding that there is a big difference at differant times of day. In the mornings I get between 3m - 5m dropping to 1m-1.5 in afternoon and by evening down to sometimes less than 256. Does any one else have this problem with their ISP or is it only me with AOL. I heard a Mr Robertson speaking on Moray Firth Radio a few days ago on problems with broadband in the north and I am now wondering if this is what my problem is caused by.
After now testing my speed over a lot of days I am now finding that there is a big difference at differant times of day. In the mornings I get between 3m - 5m dropping to 1m-1.5 in afternoon and by evening down to sometimes less than 256. Does any one else have this problem with their ISP or is it only me with AOL. I heard a Mr Robertson speaking on Moray Firth Radio a few days ago on problems with broadband in the north and I am now wondering if this is what my problem is caused by.
Everybody with normal broadband (even business class broadband) has the exact issues you describe. It's called contention.
Business class broadband usually has a contention ration of 20:1 and home broadband 50:1. What this means in laymans terms is that 50 people will be sharing the same internet 'pipe' as you. That pipe is only so big and if all 50 people are trying to access it at the same time there is a smaller piece for everybody than there would be if only a handful were using it.
So, you need to ask yourself at what times are there going to be more people using it than at other times?
As you've discovered they busy times are afternoon and the evening. Weekends are also a busy period. People are getting up, coming home from work or are generally at home during these periods (and when they are at home they are using the internet) which is why your connection is slower at these times than at others. When people are at work or in bed, you will find your connection is faster.
I'm not sure where in Caithness you are but if your problem is down to physical issues (ie. it's line contention, quality of line, exchange etc.) then moving ISP is going to make absolutley no difference to you at all. No matter which ISP you are with up here, you have the same BT line and it is that which will nto change when you switch ISP. The only thing an ISP may do for you is put pressure on BT when you have a problem and give you lower prices.
My advice is to find a neighbour who has broadband and get them to run the same tests at the same time. Go to http://speedtester.bt.com to run the tests (don't bother with the other sites as ISP's like to ignore the results). If your neighbour and you get approximately the same speeds at the same times then it's a problem that you share with whoeever is on the same exchange and there is nothing you can do about it other than getting the exchange upgraded (we're back to BT doing that and they are highly unlikely to do it up here without pressure). If you get vastly different speeds at the same times then it could be tied to your line. Report a line fault with your ISP with the results from the tests and hopefully BT will check the line and fix it (or more likely tell you the line is fine but then miraculously your broadband speed will suddenly increase thank's to the 'BT fairies).
Thanks Blue Ivy . You have confirmed what I was suspecting. Speaking to a friend last night she has the same problem and is with Orange. We both live perhaps half a mile from the exchange in Wick. Unfortunately evenings is the only time we are able to use the internet so we will have to grin and bare it.:~(
Thanks Blue Ivy . You have confirmed what I was suspecting. Speaking to a friend last night she has the same problem and is with Orange. We both live perhaps half a mile from the exchange in Wick. Unfortunately evenings is the only time we are able to use the internet so we will have to grin and bare it.:~(
Half a mile isn't a great deal of distance but as you've already confirmed you can get 6Mb on occassion so we know your line is probably fine. Your neighbour has also confirmed she is pretty much in the same boat.
I think your case of it dropping to 256k is extreme but because you can get the higher end speeds your ISP is highly unlikely to do anything about it.
As you said, you will probably just need to grin and bear it I'm afraid! Maybe you should go for a cheaper ISP though as you will still get the same slow / fast speeds but have a few more pennies in your pocket!
Thanks Blue Ivy . You have confirmed what I was suspecting. Speaking to a friend last night she has the same problem and is with Orange. We both live perhaps half a mile from the exchange in Wick. Unfortunately evenings is the only time we are able to use the internet so we will have to grin and bare it.:~(
TBH i'd have a word with orange.
you shouldn't get THAT much of a decrease at primetimes.
i'd expect the contention ratios are screwed
http://www.getonlinebroadband.com/faqs/faq02.html
dx
I'd wouldn't advise NOT to speak to Orange. I just think you're wasting your time. You never know though.
In laymans terms your phone line is connected to a card in the exchange for your broadband. That card then plugs into a DSLAM (complicated bit of equipment) which does many things but the important ones are that it gives you the bandwidth your line can cope with (dependent on your line quality, distance from the exchange etc.), it gives you bandwidth depending on the 'package' your are on (ie. business or home). With the type of broadband we have up here the ISP (Orange or AOL in this case) have no control over this, only BT do.
Is the contention ratio for your line wrong - possibly. I would expect it to go from 50:1 (which ity should be) to 20:1 (as these are two most common contentions you'd expect it to be one or the other) which would give you a better bandwidth speed.
Whenever you read ANY article on broadband that talks about line speeds, contentions, exchanges, LLU or anything else to do with 'bandwidth' is that they are written to cover the majority which live in cities. Most of the fancy equipment that they have in exchanges don't apply up here and we are unlikely to see Local Loop Unbundling any time soon. Most of the 'you shouldn't get a low speed' or 'you should have this and that' also don't apply up here. We have exchanges that badly need upgraded, work which BT isn't interested in doing for financial reasons. The Scottish Government though is putting pressure on BT to give us all decent broadband.
We don't have the luxuries up here that they do in Glasgow, Edinbugh etc.. Perhaps the Wick Exchange is running at full capacity and the contention of everybody is a lot lower than it should be?
What I'm trying to say is that when you have speed problems up here it's not quite so cut and dried as it is down south.
Finally, for those interested you may ask how the DSLAM knows what your line is capable of. When you get broadband at first your line will fluctuate in terms of speed as the DSLAM tries differerent values to get a stable one. It can take up to a fortnight (although it's usually a lot less) to settle down to a fixed speed for your line. This is why they tell you 'up to 8Mb' broadband - at the end of the day, the DSLAM decides how much of that 8Mb you will actually see. When you complain to your ISP about your line speed, one of the things BT will try is to reset the DSLAM for your line and this testing period will start again. For a brief time you will likely see your broadband line speed rocket and then dip again as the DSLAM tries those different speeds to get a stable one.
Apologies for the length of this post! I hope it makes sense.
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