How Can I Increase My Buffer

[willmark 0]

most of the time when im watching films on the internet they pause and wait for the buffer to catch up. i have been told by a friend that i have to increase my buffer size if this is possible does any-1 know how?

[yordan 10]

This simply means that the playtime of a given sequence is smaller than the time needed for downloading this sequence.Differently said, your Ethernet line is too slow.No matter your buffer size is, if you empty the buffer faster than you fill it, you will experience a freeze from time to time.Nevertheless, I agree with you, if somebody can tell you how to increase the buffer size, you can test it, simply it will probably improve nothing.

[wutske 0]

I don't know if it's possible for flash (like on Youtube, but their caching strategy seems to work pretty well), but the most basic media playing applications like WMP or Quicktime have settings to increase the buffer size.Increasing the buffer size will also increase the time you have to wait before your movie starts playing.

[willmark 0]

I don't know if it's possible for flash (like on Youtube, but their caching strategy seems to work pretty well), but the most basic media playing applications like WMP or Quicktime have settings to increase the buffer size.Increasing the buffer size will also increase the time you have to wait before your movie starts playing.

quicktime i dont trust as it has had conflicts with winmedia player but how do i get wmp 2 play utube or my films that i stream?

[tansqrx 0]

One possibility could be going from a wireless connection to a wired connection to your modem, of course assuming that you are even using wireless.In some programs, such as Windows Media Player, you can raise the buffer and might get some performance increase. In Windows Media Player:1. Depending on the Windows Media Player view, you will have to take different actions to get to the proper dialog box. This assumes that you are in the default Full mode view.2. Right click the title bar and select Tools and then Options.3. Click the Performance tab.4. Set the desired changes in the Network Buffering section.Buffering is just storing content before the media starts playing. Some will notice a short pause before the media plays and this is just the application saving data in hopes that small network dips will not be noticed. The ultimate solution is of course getting more bandwidth. If you are tiring to watch a HD movie on a 56k modem connection no amount of buffering will help you unless you download the entire movie before you play it. Getting more bandwidth usually means paying your ISP more money for a better plan.

[yordan 10]

Getting more bandwidth usually means paying your ISP more money for a better plan.

Sometimes it's simply physically not possible, for instance if the distance between your home and the provider's DSLAM is more than a few kilometers. :(In that case, the only way to have more bandwidth is to tell your provider to create a brand new datacenter near your house.

[willmark 0]

One possibility could be going from a wireless connection to a wired connection to your modem, of course assuming that you are even using wireless.
In some programs, such as Windows Media Player, you can raise the buffer and might get some performance increase. In Windows Media Player:

1. Depending on the Windows Media Player view, you will have to take different actions to get to the proper dialog box. This assumes that you are in the default Full mode view.
2. Right click the title bar and select Tools and then Options.
3. Click the Performance tab.
4. Set the desired changes in the Network Buffering section.

Buffering is just storing content before the media starts playing. Some will notice a short pause before the media plays and this is just the application saving data in hopes that small network dips will not be noticed. The ultimate solution is of course getting more bandwidth. If you are tiring to watch a HD movie on a 56k modem connection no amount of buffering will help you unless you download the entire movie before you play it. Getting more bandwidth usually means paying your ISP more money for a better plan.

i watch movies on "watch movies online" and they have there own players to play the movies but as i say it stops 2 let the buffer catch up i have 2gb of ram and 2.8 cpu is there anyother sujestions ??? plz

[yordan 10]

i watch movies on "watch movies online" and they have there own players to play the movies but as i say it stops 2 let the buffer catch up i have 2gb of ram and 2.8 cpu is there anyother sujestions ??? plz

They have their own player, you need to increase the buffer size, the best solution is asking them how to increase the buffer size.the other important question you did not understand is your line speed : please tell us which bandwidth you have. For instance if you download from the net using Internet Explorer, which speed do you see ? 12k ? 3000k ?

[BCD 1]

As in downloading files, multi part downloading greatly increases the speed (utilizes the full available speed) and maintains multiple connections with the file. Similarly, you can try video downloading accelerators. Try the free version of Speedbit Video Accelerator and observe if there is any difference in the buffering speed. That software downloads as multi part from multiple connections to the video you are watching. Let us know if that helped.

Edited August 27, 2009 by Spencer (see edit history)

[tansqrx 0]

As in downloading files, multi part downloading greatly increases the speed (utilizes the full available speed) and maintains multiple connections with the file. Similarly, you can try video downloading accelerators. Try the free version of Speedbit Video Accelerator and observe if there is any difference in the buffering speed. That software downloads as multi part from multiple connections to the video you are watching. Let us know if that helped.

This trick usually only works for very slow connections and static files that have mirrors. For instance, you are downloading the latest version of Firefox. The install package is stored on multiple mirrors and it is static. You can request a download starting a 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%. When all the parts finish you can combine them to complete the entire file. A movie from a website is different because it is streaming and the content after a certain point maybe dependant on content before that point. Edited August 27, 2009 by tansqrx (see edit history)

[willmark 0]

i have down loaded that free program but to no avail it still stops to catch up and only worked with google movies. i have a 10mb connection modem but do not no my bandwidth

[willmark 0]

They have their own player, you need to increase the buffer size, the best solution is asking them how to increase the buffer size.the other important question you did not understand is your line speed : please tell us which bandwidth you have. For instance if you download from the net using Internet Explorer, which speed do you see ? 12k ? 3000k ?

i use mozilla and i have a 10mb modem

[yordan 10]

i use mozilla and i have a 10mb modem

The 10mb modem speed is not a real information : I have a 100Mbits/sec modem, but my Internet provider gives me 0.5 Mbits/sec connection.The real speed you see is when you download a file. For instance, when you download a 1 Megabyte jpg picture, how long does it last ? have a second or five seconds ?
Or, while you download a free portable application from http://portableapps.com/ , which download speed does mozilla say ? 500 kilobits ? 5000 kilobits ? 10000 kilobits?
This speed is the info we need in order to understand if the buffer trick could improve something.

[tansqrx 0]

Let me also recommend some free internet connection speed tests from DSL Reposts at http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest.

[iGuest 3]

With Flash stream from Fancast, my problem was solved by right clicking on the video, click settings tab and increase storage space to 10mb. I have not had a pausing problem since. 

-reply by Godranac