YouTube terrible speed and buffering

[Alecmac007]

I am on Vodafone fibre so just under a year and no problems getting 10mbps but over the last 5 days I am getting terrible performance on YouTube on wifi on all devices. It either buffers, doesn’t play video and occasionally I get a period of a few minutes with no problems.

I have rebooted router and reset firmware and spoke to  Vodafone but no solution. If I connect to mobile data all is good, and all other streaming video sites work fantastic and my wifi speed is always good. Any ideas?

[embattle]

Just occasionally it will give the impression it is working but generally it soon returns to normal.

[Beth]

Hi everyone! Thank you all for the continued updates on the thread.

For those who have spoken to our Social Media team and been placed on a static IP; if you're still unable to use Google Apps or YouTube properly, please reach out again to let us know so we can update this on your record 

For those who haven't spoken to our Social Media team yet, please do so here and we can add a static IP which has worked for some and bypassed the issue, as well as get it added to our examples to be sent off for further investigation 🙂

[mmotti]

Whilst I appreciate the extra steps for trying things out I can't understand how or why a static IP address would make the blind bit of difference. It feels a lot like this is still 2nd level clutching at straws.

Has this really not been assigned to 3rd level / network engineers yet?

[Effie]

This has now been raised to our Specialist Tech team for further investigation along with all of the case examples we have collected, the steps that have been tried and the fact that a static IP or a VPN seems to resolve the issue for some. 

We are not saying that a static IP is the cure all, just that some of the people experiencing this issue have found relief when one is added to their service. For this reason it is an option we are offering to people whilst we wait for a resolution from the Tech team. 

As soon as we have some answers, we will of course update this thread. Until then we are still asking for anyone with the issue to contact the Social Media team so we can continue collecting examples; the more cases we have, the faster a resolution can be found. 

[rickyoleary]

Just added my 2 cents. We also have the same issue. We're on a static IP, Google Play apps do not update and everything is fine on a VPN. 

Unfortunately I've given up with live chat, anything other than generic problems and it's totally pointless. Being told it's my firmware or my line etc, they never grasp I state over and over again it's fine over a VPN. It's nice to know we aren't the only ones and currently have all my connections going through a proxy.

Will keep a check on this thread.

[mmotti]

I must admit I've all but given up trying to get this issue resolved. I've spoken to several different people and had to repeat myself over and over again every time because it's either been logged incorrectly or the person on the other end of the line thinks I'm an idiot or has no clue what I'm talking about.

It's really highlighted to me how good and useful their support can be for low level issues / queries but as soon as you go off-script with a somewhat unique issue it doesn't matter how much diagnostic information you give them etc you just get absolutely nowhere or information that you do convey is cherry picked or relayed incorrectly to the higher teams... E.g. this issue was closed by level 3 support because "well you're using a VPN so it's your fault not our problem".

Speeds are good, prices are good (comparatively), but god help you if you have an issue or they have a network issue affecting a subset of users that they won't acknowledge.

[mmotti]

@Effieare you aware of any updates?

I've not heard anything from VF for some time and it's becoming very tiring to deal with this issue every day.

[Effie]

@mmotti No updates just yet but as it was only raised on Friday this isn't surprising. We are still sending new cases to the team investigating this issue so they are aware that it is affecting more and more customers. As soon as we have an update for you we will absolutely update this thread. 

[cakemonitor]

In case anyone fancies a laugh (or perhaps some exasperated screaming), here's the timeline of my interactions with the Vodafone UK account on twitter:

Sep 11 pm,  Me: [describes the fault and provides link to this thread]
Sep 12 am,  James: [requests full name, account number, date of birth, postcode]
Sep 12 am,  Me: [provides requested info]
Sep 12 am,  Kieron: [requests digits 1 & 2 from pin]
Sep 12 pm,  Me: [provides requested pin digits]
Sep 13 pm,  Lucy: Is the problem just wireless, wired, or both?
Sep 13 pm,  Me: It's both and it's all devices, but only when on then Vodafone network.
Sep 14 am,  Karla: Can you install the Boradband app so I can walk you through some tests?
Sep 14 pm,  Me: I've now installed the app (by using 4G).
Sep 14 pm,  Mac: You can't have support because you're on a Pro account. You have to contact the WiFi Xperts.

... Here I give up for a while. However, eventually I notice here on the forums that the social media support team know about the problem and they need info about affected users so I try again:

Sep 22 am,  Me: The problem's still ongoing, and apparently your team is now aware of the broader fault?
Sep 22 pm,  Tim: [requests full name, account number, date of birth, postcode, and digits 1 & 4 from pin]
Sep 22 pm,  Me: Can you not just scroll up a bit? I already verified and provided pin digits last week.
Sep 22 pm,  Tim: I appreciate your frustration, but no. You have to give the details again.
Sep 22 pm,  Me: [provides name, account no., d.o.b., postcode, and requested pin digits]
Sep 23 ... nothing
Sep 24 am,  Ben: Sorry, our security has to be refreshed every 48 hours. Please provide digits 1 & 2 from your pin.
Sep 24 pm,  Me: It hadn't been 48 hours when you asked for new digits - you could have authenticated me then!
Sep 24 pm,  Me: However, since digits 1 & 2 happen to match last week's, here they are again: X, Y.
Sep 25 ... nothing
Sep 26 am,  Me: Um, hello? Are we in danger of passing another 48-hour window?
Sep 26 pm,  Karla: Hi! It's now been more than 48 hours, so you need to provide new pin digits: 3 & 4.
Sep 26 pm,  Me: I've already given pin digits three times in two weeks. No more. This is the opposite of security!
Sep 26 pm,  Karla: I appreciate where you're coming from but I cannot help. Instead you can phone 191.

... I give up. VPN it is.

[mmotti]

Jesus and here I thought I was the only one being taken for a wild ride lol