Is Verizon Throttling YouTube Vids?

[MightyT01]

I've noticed a disturbing rate of frequency lately on my Moto Droid with Verizon. While trying to stream YouTube vids via 3G, my connection will automatically throttle down to 1x EVDO speeds and the YouTube vids begin to stutter and essentially become unwatchable.

I never watch HQ YouTube vids while on 3G. Wireless streams great, of course. Furthermore, when I get out of YouTube, wait a little, I'll reacquire my 3G connection and all is well again.

For streaming audio like Pandora, RadioTime, Slacker, or Flash Audio via the browser, I never get the throttle back to 1x EVDO from 3G.

Just curious to see if anyone else out there experiences this throttling and wondering if Verizon is intentionally throttling YouTube on 3G service?

 

[bicycleray]

I haven't been able to reproduce this myself on my droid on apex1.3.1
I also stay away from streaming HQ if I'm not on wifi because I can't stand buffering

 

[droidshot®]

Mine has done that ever since the OTA of 2.2!Most I try to watch are so bad I just turn em off.

 

[Droideye]

Mine has done that ever since the OTA of 2.2!Most I try to watch are so bad I just turn em off.

Same here. I just save YouTube for my PC.

 

[hookbill]

Where do you guys come up with this stuff? Your YouTube videos are delayed basically and you think it's deliberately done by Verizon.

It's so absurd I don't know what else to say. Verizon IMHO has never shown any indications of delivering anything else but top quality service.

Could it be possible it's with the server at the other end?

 

[GT944]

+1 to hookbill on this one - sounds hokey to me...

Sent from my ADR6300

 

[MightyT01]

Where do you guys come up with this stuff? Your YouTube videos are delayed basically and you think it's deliberately done by Verizon.

It's so absurd I don't know what else to say. Verizon IMHO has never shown any indications of delivering anything else but top quality service.

Could it be possible it's with the server at the other end?

Hook, lay off the flaMe and don't b such a fanboy. I'm just relaying my personal experience and want input from others with similar issues. If you have great throughput and no throttling, great. You get a gold star and thanks for sharing.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[dfuser312553]

Honestly mine is shoddy too but I don't know if it's due to throttling or signal or Christmas. I wouldn't put it past any of the carriers to throttle though. I remember every 3g commercial said something to the effect of, "instant access to videos" & would show some person enjoying things like YouTube..... now with 4g or LTE it's like "Yo 4 realz this time". I encourage everyone to run the FCC mobile bandwidth app from time to time.

 

[BLACKlando]

As soon as I read this I tested it out, but nothing happened. It stayed on 3G the entire time and the video never even buffered. Do be sure to NOT have HQ on when not in Wi-Fi area but I for a fact never saw it change to 1x or anything.:greendroid:

 

[MightyT01]

As soon as I read this I tested it out, but nothing happened. It stayed on 3G the entire time and the video never even buffered. Do be sure to NOT have HQ on when not in Wi-Fi area but I for a fact never saw it change to 1x or anything.:greendroid:

Well, this gives me hope that it's just my town and the limited throughput in the towers. I read another thread that indicated a possible finite amount of data throughput a cell tower can handle, which can lead to 3G degradation. Next time I head out of town I'll try Youtube streaming on 3G and see what my results are.

 

[returntosender]

not just you

I've experienced this a couple of times. Both times is was in the middle of downloading... something. After I killed the browser, it went back to 3G. My initial thought was shoddy signal coverage in my office, but the coincidence was too great. I've never had it happen when the 3g signal is strong though, so I don't know.

 

[zero7404]

i too have always had issues with youtube whether its via the browser or dedicated app. wifi never works right for me, so my reference is with 3g connection.

not sure whats going on but it appears to be related to either android or timeouts/data packet exchange between the phone and tower.

its so far happened to me on droid 1 and droid 2

sent via wireless device

 

[Martin030908]

YouTube over 3g for me has never been lightning fast but I can watch HD videos streaming no problem.

Not sure what's going on here. I don't suspect throttling but who knows these days.

 

[dfuser312553]

Might give this a look. http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/110998-moto-testers-4-uncapped-data-mod.html

 

[david1pro]

I have to agree with the original poster. Not specific to youtube, but to data usage in general. If I tether, I notice my speed drops SIGNIFICANTLY after a few minutes of heavier usage. The pattern repeats itself over and over and over. Things are fine if I want a few seconds or even a few minutes, but if I keep going (let's say 15-20 minutes), very often I'll be stuck at no more than 1.5kbs. I clearly think Verizon is throttling users who are sucking up bandwidth.

Again, this is my experience as observed over and over and over again. You experience may be different.