Help Youtube streaming

[sleezecheeze]

Hey guys. Yet again I'm having troubles with my beloved nexus 7.

My internet speed isn't slow. It isn't terribly quick either by any means but it's certainly fast enough to stream HD video.

On my PC I can stream HD videos from youtube with the buffer bar running happily along 2-3 centimeters in front of the time marker. I can also run xbox multiplayer fine off my wifi connection and it picks me as host a lot of the time.

When I run speedtest on my Nexus 7 I get around 9-9.5 mbps down and 1.5-2 mbps up. It's not terribly quick I know but it's definitely fast enough to stream HD video.

When I use the youtube app however on my N7 HD video won't play without pausing at the start of the video for 30-40 seconds. The internet performance from browsers is fine (although it does take a while to load other HD video from other sources, but no where near as long as youtube). The mobile site through chrome and dolphin browser also presents the same issues.

I don't know what the issue is here, unless HD video has suddenly got higher in definition.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Demache]

The Wifi connection on the Nexus 7 might not be consistent enough to keep up the HD video stream (especially if there are walls between you and the access point). Just my guess.

Also are you using Wireless G or N?

 

[Skyroket]

yeah what wireless router do you have?

 

[danielkeyes45]

I have the same problem streaming YouTube with my N7. I have good speeds and can stream with my PCs and PS3 without problems. The N7 is constantly buffering, to the point where I have to turn off the HD.

I believe that my router is wireless g (not sure because it is the modem/router combo provided by my internet company). All other wireless devices work fine with it (i.e. Netflix streaming on PS3 is amazing).

I would love to hear of a fix.

Thanks

 

[sleezecheeze]

The Wifi connection on the Nexus 7 might not be consistent enough to keep up the HD video stream (especially if there are walls between you and the access point). Just my guess.

Also are you using Wireless G or N?

I believe it's wireless G.

I don't think there are enough devices on the network (3 all up) to actually interfere with anything though. Wireless N is the better one isn't it? I might have to pick up a wireless N router.

 

[Demache]

I believe it's wireless G.

I don't think there are enough devices on the network (3 all up) to actually interfere with anything though. Wireless N is the better one isn't it? I might have to pick up a wireless N router.

You should get more bandwidth with a Wireless N router. But the reason why I brought that up was that the connection between the N7 and router may have deteriorated badly enough that it can't hold a good enough connection for HD. I know at home, even though we have a 30 Mbps download speed, my wireless G can't really keep up in my room with HD, due to the fact that my wireless gets weak enough. Though in my case, that is for sure my issue, since every device in my room on wireless can't stream HD adequately. At my university, its far better since they use Wireless N (and their access point density is ridiculous). Technically, Wireless G should have no problems with HD video, but 54 Mb's is the maximum possible bandwidth, and it starts decreasing rapidly the worse your signal strength gets.

Not really much of a fix though. I can't really imagine there are any specific issues with the N7 itself, and just sounds like a plain old "not enough bandwidth" issue which leads me to believe its a wireless issue. Getting an N capable router may fix it. Emphasis on the "may". Wireless N is far more advanced than G is, and can probably deal with signal issues a bit better.

 

[sleezecheeze]

You should get more bandwidth with a Wireless N router. But the reason why I brought that up was that the connection between the N7 and router may have deteriorated badly enough that it can't hold a good enough connection for HD. I know at home, even though we have a 30 Mbps download speed, my wireless G can't really keep up in my room with HD, due to the fact that my wireless gets weak enough. Though in my case, that is for sure my issue, since every device in my room on wireless can't stream HD adequately. At my university, its far better since they use Wireless N (and their access point density is ridiculous). Technically, Wireless G should have no problems with HD video, but 54 Mb's is the maximum possible bandwidth, and it starts decreasing rapidly the worse your signal strength gets.

Not really much of a fix though. I can't really imagine there are any specific issues with the N7 itself, and just sounds like a plain old "not enough bandwidth" issue which leads me to believe its a wireless issue. Getting an N capable router may fix it. Emphasis on the "may". Wireless N is far more advanced than G is, and can probably deal with signal issues a bit better.

I thought initially along the same lines as you have but when I use my computer or xbox in the same room I have no connection or speed issues. I'm going to look into an N router today anyhow, I'm going to be setting up a home media server and from what I've heard N networking has loads more advantages for this type of thing.

Thanks for your help and I'll report back later.

 

[Skyroket]

Yep.. N is the way to go. I personally would recommend Netgear routers. No matter what don't get D-link it is pure nightmare when it comes to home media networking. Not sure about linksys... Never used it.

Netgear n300 or n600 are the best out there

 

[John Bean]

Rather than replace a perfectly good ADSL router just because of its poor wifi performance I added an additional (and better!) wifi access point in the form of the tiny and inexpensive TP Link TL-WR702N.

It works very well with the Nexus 7 - and with everything else for that matter

 

[borospark]

Before you go and buy anything check out this thread first, it could just be your DNS settings

http://androidforums.com/nexus-7/686585-nexus-7-slow-internet.html

 

[sleezecheeze]

Rather than replace a perfectly good ADSL router just because of its poor wifi performance I added an additional (and better!) wifi access point in the form of the tiny and inexpensive TP Link TL-WR702N.

It works very well with the Nexus 7 - and with everything else for that matter

I'll be looking into this! Thank you for the suggestion.

Before you go and buy anything check out this thread first, it could just be your DNS settings

http://androidforums.com/nexus-7/686585-nexus-7-slow-internet.html

Thank you for your reply. I have read through the thread although I cannot access the DNS settings on my device. Following the directory -

Settings > WiFi > Longpress current network > Modify > Advanced

All that the advanced option shows is proxy settings and IP settings (DHCP or Static). Is there something that I'm missing?

Could it be because I'm still on 4.1 not 4.2?

EDIT :
Figured it out. Changed my DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 then restarted the tablet. Seems to be working alrighty now but that could be a place-bo. I'll test it out over the next couple of days and keep this updated.

 

[lucky013]

So what is the outcome?

 

[sleezecheeze]

So what is the outcome?

Unfortunately it's not to good. It started dropping out randomly and I'd have to reboot the tablet to pick up the WiFi signal again. I ended up having to switch it back to how it was before just to maintain a constant signal. Speedtest.net app is still giving me speeds of 9mb/s down and 2mb/s up but I still have issues with the speed. Youtube still won't stream HD happily and neither will anything else.

I'm stuck at it.

 

[lucky013]

Try an app called pvstar. It is an alternative to youtube. Uses there vids. Might work better for you. It works for me when YouTube acts up.

 

[mmoy]

I have the same problem with YouTube but I'm going between two floors. My iPhone generally does better on WiFi than the Nexus 7. We have a one-year-old Wireless N router. My solution was to use a Firefox add-on to download YouTube videos to my PC and then upload them to the N7 for viewing later on.

BTW, I generally don't have this problem with some of the other streaming video sites.

 

[lucky013]

Its a Youtube issue.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Try to change the wifi settings to the speed 802.11g

 

[smankins]

Get an app called network signal info to see your wifi network speed and any fluctuation. You can also use an app called wifi analyzer to view your network signal strength and see if other nearby networks are interfering. You might need to change your network channel. They are both free apps. Like a post above said make sure your router is set for 802.11(g) only, not mixed.

If possible some routers benefit from a change in MTU from the default 1500. As for a router that supports 802.11 I don't think the Nexus 7 works with that protocol at 5 GHz, just 2.4 GHz so keep that in mind. If all your other devices support you could get an improvement.