Database Users

Why does YouTube hate the internet connection at my house?

Hey Everyone,
I've seen posts about problems with YouTube constantly buffering on HQ and have tried every possible solution I've seen, but I'm still having issues. I am hoping someone can help me.
HERE'S WHAT IS INTERESTING... when I use my phone as a hotspot (T-mobile HSPA+) and connect my N7 to it, YouTube works absolutely fine, no buffering at all! What is up with that? The internet at my house is fast (Verizon Fios) and I can stream and play everything fine on my N7 except for YouTube videos. But, once again... YouTube works fine when I connect my N7 to my phone's much slower wifi hotspot! So, obviously YouTube (both the app and web browser have the problem, but the app seems a little worse) has a problem with my home internet connection. Does anyone have any ideas on how to diagnose and fix this? I've tried rebooting the router. The Verizon Fios box is a kind of "all in one" device, so I can't swap out another router. Is there any settings I can try, either on my N7 or somehow on the router itself (don't know much about routers)? Any ideas? The Nexus 7 is such a great device for watching videos, etc... it's really aggravating to not be able to watch YouTube videos on it.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Mebborne

You're not the only one buddy. It happens to me as well. It's really annoying. When I watch YouTube videos on my PC it's quick and on the n7 you know..
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ----------
I don't think its the device's fault but rather the application.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

scream4cheese said:
You're not the only one buddy. It happens to me as well. It's really annoying. When I watch YouTube videos on my PC it's quick and on the n7 you know..
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 AM ----------
I don't think its the device's fault but rather the application.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I definitely realize that I'm not the only one. But, why does YouTube work absolutely fine on my N7 when I tether it to my phone (a much slower connection)? This means that YouTube CAN work on the N7. It just doesn't like some routers apparently, or something like that. And why does YouTube work fine for some people and not for others on the N7?

I doubt this is the problem, but your neighbors could be using the same channel as your WiFi. So their WiFi interferes with yours. You can download an app called WiFi analyzer. It will show you the channels you and your neighbors are using. It will also show you better channels than what you are on. You then go to the IP address of your router and change your channel.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

rebill said:
I doubt this is the problem, but your neighbors could be using the same channel as your WiFi. So their WiFi interferes with yours. You can download an app called WiFi analyzer. It will show you the channels you and your neighbors are using. It will also show you better channels than what you are on. You then go to the IP address of your router and change your channel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be. Could even be microwave ovens or portable phones/base stations if the WiFi link is using 802.11b or 802.11g (or even 802.11n, depending), as they also overlap the same ISM bands that B and G use.
Resolving performance problems (as opposed to gross connectivity issues) is tedious work - the root of the problem can be in a very large search space.
With enough packet sniffing (tcpdump or Wireshark) you can sometimes ferret out network performance problems; but it's not for the faint of heart. Your eyes will bleed from looking at raw packet data without purpose-built tools. You have to follow the data where it goes, too - you don't know if the problem is delays as a result of small % of packet loss, or something more twisty than that. If the cause is a small % of packet loss, you would be looking for TCP segment retransmissions by the server, or duplicated ACKs from the client (tablet). The will occur along one link (e.g. WiFi) but much less frequently along a different link.
Sometimes problems can be detected by just looking at gross statistics on each network interface (e.g. /sys/class/net/wlan0/statistics/* on the tablet versus something equivalent on the router) - even easier to do if you can manage to clear the counters without rebooting as you can then run a "youtube test" right after clearing them to see if the drop/error counts are actually happening when you are using the app. Either that or just collect them twice (immediately before and after the youtube test) and use subtraction.
The OP might be able to prove it's not his ISP link if it is possible to use a OTG+USB Ethernet nic plugged in to the N7 (use ethernet to his home router instead of wireless), but I can't say I've tried this myself, and I suppose he probably would prefer not to spend money solving the problem if it can be avoided.
There are some tcpdump-based tools such as "Shark for Root" on the market. Not that using the phone itself for sniffing will be all that easier, but setting up a wireless sniffer is even harder and more expensive, and since the OPs router is an "all-in-one" box, the only way to intercept traffic off of it will be if it's admin tools allow you to dump traffic to a designated ethernet port. Not typical for consumer devices, but who knows.
Mebborne said:
... when I use my phone as a hotspot (T-mobile HSPA+) and connect my N7 to it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To the extent that the YouTube app is unaware of which interface it is getting it's data from, that's a demonstration right there that the problem is probably not the N7 or the YouTube app. Could be your ISP or your home network.
Out of curiosity - does your phone do WiFi tether in Infrastructure Mode, or is this a USB tether? (afaik, the N7 doesn't work with ad-hoc WiFi tether... unless you've got some tricks up your sleeve).
hope some of that helped

I've also been having this issue since i got my N7. It happens on every single WiFi network I'm on. Using the web based YouTube doesn't help either. I was getting so aggravating today that i almost threw my tablet across the room.....
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

rebill said:
I doubt this is the problem, but your neighbors could be using the same channel as your WiFi. So their WiFi interferes with yours. You can download an app called WiFi analyzer. It will show you the channels you and your neighbors are using. It will also show you better channels than what you are on. You then go to the IP address of your router and change your channel.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying to help! I tried the app you mentioned and experimented with changing channels accordingly. At first, I thought it may have been helping, but soon it came back the same. I do appreciate the help though!

bftb0 said:
Out of curiosity - does your phone do WiFi tether in Infrastructure Mode, or is this a USB tether? (afaik, the N7 doesn't work with ad-hoc WiFi tether... unless you've got some tricks up your sleeve).
hope some of that helped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all that. I'm afraid most of it was above my head unfortunately. But, I'm trying to use your words to help me as I research at least
As for your question above, I think I may have used the word "tether" wrong. I just meant, when I use my phone as a wireless hotspot and connect to it on my N7 YouTube videos playback flawlessly, which seriously makes no sense. The wireless network at my house is much, much faster and I use it all the time to stream YouTube or hi-def movies to my TV (Netflix) without a hiccup. And my Nexus 7 streams Netflix as well just fine over my home network. It's just YouTube that is constantly buffering. Which would imply that it's the YouTube app... but, then why does the YouTube app stream fine when connected to my much slower phone connection? It's not making any sense!
I really appreciate you trying to help!
Thanks again,
Mebborne

Did you see this thread?
I wasn't aware of it when I responded to your post. Seems like you are in good company. I didn't read that whole thread, so I can't summarize or tell you if there are any fixes. OTOH, given the number of people saying "me too", I wonder if it is an ISP issue - purposely throttling of connections coming from youtube.

WiFi disconnects often?

I'm really happy with the phone so far, but my wifi disconnects fairly regularly and I keep getting a force close on the SMCC Process (whatever that is). Anyone else having problems?

I just read the thread below this and that issue seems similar.
EDIT: I tried turning off the smart wifi, but it still loses connection. The phone still shows that it's connected to whatever wifi signal, but stops downloading. This happens both at home and at work, so I don't believe it's related to the router itself.

I'm seeing the same issue on mine as well. Noticed it last night playing Pandora via wifi. Would play like 3 songs then nothing. I would have to toggle wifi on/off to get Pandora playing again.

jfugate15 said:
I'm seeing the same issue on mine as well. Noticed it last night playing Pandora via wifi. Would play like 3 songs then nothing. I would have to toggle wifi on/off to get Pandora playing again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like basically the same thing. If I wait long enough, it comes back on its own, but it's faster to just cycle wifi or airplane mode once. It's fairly frustrating, and I even found myself just using 3G to do things last night instead of Wifi.

seems to be a known issue in other S4 forums:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2254568&page=2

Mixed Mode WIFI
I had this exact same problem with my EVO 4G LTE, the problem was the mixed mode WIFI. (B,G,N). On the EVO it turned out to be an easy fix because there was a setting in the WIFI menu to force either B or G. As soon as I selected one mode I had a solid internet connection. The problem here is there does not seem to be an option in the S4 settings to allow this. I have been trying to force single mode on my router to see if that will fix it but my router will not allow me to turn it off either. Pretty serious bug I would say.

WIFI worthless on brand new S4
If you are having issues with this you might want to check this thread out!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2253471&page=3

it doesn't do it as often as it did with the SGS3 though

I really wish I could find a resolution to this. I'm thinking of wiping my phone and starting over to make sure it isn't an app issue, but man that's a lot of work.

Im having the same issue as well.. Im almost positive its common issue and i would expect it to be addressed in the next OTA

The common link seems to be DLink router. We have a Cisco Linksys router and it stays hooked up solid on that.

I have an Asus router. Don't know if there are usually problems with those or not, but I haven't had any prior issues.

I have a Cisco e4200 stock and a Asus running ddwrt operating as a wireless bridge to extend my network. I had to turn off mixed mode on both devices to resolve the issue. Hope that helps.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk HD

I have the same problem but I have Netgear routers. The one at my house works fine, but at my other location. The wifi drops.

Same problem on dlink

Adding my 2 cents because I have 2 S4's that I've been testing with and I'm getting mixed results... my first post here so I hope I'm doing this right!
I have 2 wireless routers at home:
- DLink DIR-655
- One provided by my ISP (Bell Canada; not sure of the model at the moment)
The DIR-655 is troublesome for BOTH S4 devices; they stay connected for a few minutes (or longer in some cases) but will always end up not transferring data even though they show as having a very strong signal. Turning wifi on/off always fixes the issue for a short period of time.
Knowing that there seem to be compatibility issues with the S4 and DLink router, I switched them both over to the Bell router. Now only one of the devices has the wifi issue described above.
I found it odd that changing the router being used fixed the issue for one of the devices but not the other. I'm now questioning whether one device has a hardware issue or not (doubtful on this, but worth questioning).
Both S4's have the most up-to-date firmware as do all of the routers in the house. No other devices (iPhones, laptops, apple tv, etc...) have any issues with the wifi.
I've tried resetting the routers, forgetting the wifi connection and setting it back up, rebooting the phone, smashing my head against the wall; nothing seems to have worked permanently.
Is it possible that this is a hardware issue and not a software issue? Has anyone else had similar results with multiple devices?

fix....?
this wifi drops are due to the router WIFI signal setting. it will drop it you are using a B/G Mixed signal/ B/G/N Mixed signal. i recommend setting it on 802.11 g. or, if all your Devices in the house have N use N since it has more bandwidth. i use G because of the PS3
Hope this helps resolve the issue for you guys, it sure did for me.

Yurijoejoe said:
this wifi drops are due to the router WIFI signal setting. it will drop it you are using a B/G Mixed signal/ B/G/N Mixed signal. i recommend setting it on 802.11 g. or, if all your Devices in the house have N use N since it has more bandwidth. i use G because of the PS3
Hope this helps resolve the issue for you guys, it sure did for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, I can attest that this wasn't a permanent solution for me. After switching to N mode only, the amount of times the issue occurred was reduced, but still happens at least once per day.
It's also a pain when I'm connected to networks where I have no control over the wireless settings (work, public networks, friends networks).

I have a linksys modem and router. Haven't had a single connection issue with this phone as I had with my EVO. As my wifi disconnects and reconnects right away. Lol. First time that has happened. Knocked on wood.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

I find it disconnects much less often than the sgs3, but still occasionally disconnects
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

[TIP] Gamestream directly from wifi-enabled PC to Shield

Thought others might like to know, I was able to follow the guide below to turn my Alienware Alpha into a wifi access point, then I connect my NVIDIA Shield directly to its access point and play games streamed directly from my Alpha over wifi without a router as the middleman. I tried this because my Alpha isn't connected directly to my usual router via Ethernet - it uses WiFi, but having the Gamestreaming go wirelessly to router then wirelessly to Shield didn't perform well (ie two wireless hops).
http://www.7tutorials.com/how-turn-your-windows-81-laptop-wifi-access-point
Note: I didn't bother with the second step to provide internet access to the connected devices (in this case my Shield), because I want my Shield focused purely on streaming in this case. Interestingly enough, it seemed like my Alpha was able to still access the internet via WiFi to my usual router, even while providing its own access point. Performance is great and I'm able to wirelessly enjoy my games around the house now. (I know I'm so behind on this, but didn't have a good enough graphics card until my Alpha)
And in case anyone is wondering, I am loving my little Alienware Alpha - it's a nice gaming machine in a small console form factor. It didn't initially have a driver that supported gamestreaming, but it must have gotten an update because it started working.
~Troop

i tried this but after a few minutes connected, my windows 8.1 just crash (blue screen).

Blue screen would make me think a driver/hardware problem, but hard to say - it's possible acting as a wireless hotspot might stress the hardware in ways the designers may not have expected since most people don't use their Windows PC's as hotspots.
Update: Disregard this, it does seem to still be working, so I may have been having other issues before.
Also, I've been meaning to update that I don't think doing this method works anymore... fortunately, streaming seems to work better now so that it can survive two wireless hops in my case. I would like to get a more direct way working again, but not sure exactly what the problem is - let us know if anyone knows anything that could have changed in the protocol that might be causing problems for this use case.
~Troop

Trooper_Max said:
Blue screen would make me think a driver/hardware problem, but hard to say - it's possible acting as a wireless hotspot might stress the hardware in ways the designers may not have expected since most people don't use their Windows PC's as hotspots.
Also, I've been meaning to update that I don't think doing this method works anymore... fortunately, streaming seems to work better now so that it can survive two wireless hops in my case. I would like to get a more direct way working again, but not sure exactly what the problem is - let us know if anyone knows anything that could have changed in the protocol that might be causing problems for this use case.
~Troop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still working for me using this method. Although the 5ghz network streams great using a hotspot seems to be significantly better on 2.4ghz only lower end devices like my jxd 7800.
---------- Post added at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:04 PM ----------
Trooper_Max said:
Blue screen would make me think a driver/hardware problem, but hard to say - it's possible acting as a wireless hotspot might stress the hardware in ways the designers may not have expected since most people don't use their Windows PC's as hotspots.
Also, I've been meaning to update that I don't think doing this method works anymore... fortunately, streaming seems to work better now so that it can survive two wireless hops in my case. I would like to get a more direct way working again, but not sure exactly what the problem is - let us know if anyone knows anything that could have changed in the protocol that might be causing problems for this use case.
~Troop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still working for me using this method. Although the 5ghz network streams great anyway, using a hotspot seems to be significantly better on 2.4ghz only lower end devices like my jxd 7800.

You're right - it still works. I must have been having some kind of other problems before. So I got worried the new login thing where they want you to login to stream your games might be interfering. (Or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, haven't tried all that yet)
In any case, it was working great again.
~Troop

Can not find pc
Hi,
I was not able to make this work - i created wirtual hotspot on my msi ge70e laptop and connected with my shield tablet. Either shield hub or moonlight can not find pc.. But (if it is sign of anything) i am able to run local splashtop (laptop is not connected to the internet), so i would guess that some kind of lan connection must be working between the two.
Any ideas would be appreciated, thank you

Weak wifi

Compared to my Samsung devices it seems my nvidia shield TV has very weak WiFi. Even compared to my shield tablet. I keep getting disconnected to WiFi and sometimes it won't even connect. When it does connect I get about 1 to 2 bars showing on the grid. Anyone else have the same experience? I have requested an exchange on amazon so hopefully it's just my unit and this is not wide spread. My shield tablet has weak WiFi also but at least it doesn't disconnect.

aznmode said:
Compared to my Samsung devices it seems my nvidia shield TV has very weak WiFi. Even compared to my shield tablet. I keep getting disconnected to WiFi and sometimes it won't even connect. When it does connect I get about 1 to 2 bars showing on the grid. Anyone else have the same experience? I have requested an exchange on amazon so hopefully it's just my unit and this is not wide spread. My shield tablet has weak WiFi also but at least it doesn't disconnect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have a dual band router? i learned earlier today that my shield can barely see/cannot see my 5g network on certain channels. grab a wifi analyzer app on your phone, and change the channel of your wifi to something less congested in the router configuration, could help with a 2.4g network as well.

Yes I do have a dual band. Might give that a go and see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

And if you're using 2.4, you're usually best off using channel 1, 6 or 11

nitr0burn said:
And if you're using 2.4, you're usually best off using channel 1, 6 or 11
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot to add that you should consider the placement of the shield vs your Samsung products. If its placed too close to other devices emitting rf or blocking the signal, you'll have problems.

I haven't gotten a chance to mess with the channels yet since it started working again, although have not tested speed yet. Been reading some reviews on Amazon that also mentions connection issues.

Started acting up again. Changing channel did not help. I just got my replacement so I will try this out for a few days to see how it goes.

Link found to WiFi 5GHz problems

So like everyone else I have the 5GHz wifi problem. If I'm not in the same room as the router you can forget using 5GHz. So I found the link to the problem. I just don't know how to solve it. I connected to the 5GHz in a trouble location while having mobile data and Bluetooth turned on. Internet speeds were terrible to the point the speed test would barely run. I turned Bluetooth off, and the speed test are right on par with my old phone, and 5GHz is working fine while Bluetooth is off.

5Ghz is not meant for long range though, 2.4Ghz takes care of that..
You should be able to obtain a signal within around 30feet, potentially more, but it'll drop off at that point.
2.4 carries a lot better..
Could it be to do with the channels that the phone may be using for WiFi??
Turn off all WiFi devices and Bluetooth in the room and see how the test goes.
Very strange.

I am a bit confused as to why people are reporting needing to turn BT off to operate 5GHZ Wifi. BT operates in the 2.4xx space. If you are saying turning it off resolves your problem this points to either a greater hardware/software issue or that you are not operating in 5Ghz at all.

I understand how 2.4 and 5 work as far as range and bandwidth goes. I tested this theory in the same spot my old phone would get 100mbps down (what I pay for) while connected to 5Ghz Wifi. The OnePlus 8 Pro while connected to 5Ghz in the same spot with Bluetooth enabled would cause the phones speed to drop to around 5mbps down and sometimes to the point I get nothing and losing connection. Now if I repeat the same scenario but this time I disable Bluetooth the connection is stable and speeds are 90-100mbps down. I repeated this multiple times sitting in the same location. Yes I understand that BT uses 2.4Ghz. I'm not saying that you need to turn BT off for 5Hhz Wifi to function. What I am saying is some how on this phone, and reported by others, the 5Ghz Wifi on this phone does not function properly. There have been zero solutions or reasons why that I am aware of. My post was pointing to a possible reason why and the fact that it is a hardware/software problem and maybe the right person could look into. I have no reason why the BT being on and off affects the 5Ghz Wifi on this phone and not the 2.4Ghz but it does. And my old phone was a $300 Samsung A50 that I was testing this phone against in my post. I tried to find what channels the phone uses for WiFi but was unsuccessful. If you find the channel lost I would be more than happy to switch channels and see.

dladz said:
5Ghz is not meant for long range though, 2.4Ghz takes care of that..
You should be able to obtain a signal within around 30feet, potentially more, but it'll drop off at that point.
2.4 carries a lot better..
Could it be to do with the channels that the phone may be using for WiFi??
Turn off all WiFi devices and Bluetooth in the room and see how the test goes.
Very strange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It ends up it is an issue with the channel. Before I bought the phone I had manually set my router to channel 153 because auto kept putting me on the same channel as my neighbor. The OnePlus will connect to channels 149 and 153 but isn't really functional. I had to select one of the UNII-1 Channels. Once I did that 5Ghz worked and is functional and stable. The sad part is the reception isn't nearly as good as my $300 Samsung. Maybe they'll improve that if they can. I'm still bewildered why turning off Bluetooth allowed channel 153 to work.

travle said:
It ends up it is an issue with the channel. Before I bought the phone I had manually set my router to channel 153 because auto kept putting me on the same channel as my neighbor. The OnePlus will connect to channels 149 and 153 but isn't really functional. I had to select one of the UNII-1 Channels. Once I did that 5Ghz worked and is functional and stable. The sad part is the reception isn't nearly as good as my $300 Samsung. Maybe they'll improve that if they can. I'm still bewildered why turning off Bluetooth allowed channel 153 to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn on auto channel on your router. You're going to have issues unless your entire network and devices are moderated perfectly.
Auto does the job