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How do I increase the size of the buffer for streaming videos like YouTube

  • 2 replies
  • 127 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

charlessmall18
charlessmall18
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Like everyone who uses Firefox (Vista Home Premium, HP Pavilion PC, Comcast 12MB/s Internet connection), when I try to view videos on sites like YouTube (and every other streaming video site too), the video keeps pausing while something (Firefox? Windows?) is buffering the video stream. I already know the trick about hitting "pause" as soon as the YouTube video starts and then waiting for the reddish completion bar to run, indicating the buffer is full. But I still get herky-jerky videos. So how can I increase the size of the buffer? Is it a Firefox buffer or is it a Windows buffer or some other buffer?

Like everyone who uses Firefox (Vista Home Premium, HP Pavilion PC, Comcast 12MB/s Internet connection), when I try to view videos on sites like YouTube (and every other streaming video site too), the video keeps pausing while something (Firefox? Windows?) is buffering the video stream. I already know the trick about hitting "pause" as soon as the YouTube video starts and then waiting for the reddish completion bar to run, indicating the buffer is full. But I still get herky-jerky videos. So how can I increase the size of the buffer? Is it a Firefox buffer or is it a Windows buffer or some other buffer?

All Replies (2)

musty
musty
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How do I increase the size of the buffer for streaming videos like YouTube

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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There are two possible causes of such an issue. Either it is the connection and that includes with what speed the server can send the data with and what your ISP passes to you. Another possible cause is security software like a firewall or anti-virus software that throttles the throughput by checking the content or for other reasons.

Do other browsers have that buffering issue as well?

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of your add-ons is causing your problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).

  • Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.

See Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems and Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems