Is there anything I can do about video stream lag?

As the title suggests, my issue is most likely (but hopefully not?) CDN related. I'm on the east coast in a highly developed area with fiber to home on Verizon FiOS with a 75/75 plan that chews up streams and usenet downloads like nobodies business, and I typically get 85/85 ( http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4150785086 ). This connection can host dozens of HD netflix streams at once without any stuttering, yet for some perplexing and infuriating reason I am left buffering 20-30 seconds at a clip just to watch 6 or 7 seconds of video here on giantbomb before it stalls out again. It's beyond bearable as a user. It's not just limited to live streams, this even happens when I watch archived Ryan footage or regular old quicklooks. This doesn't happen to me with any other video streaming providers. Hulu, Netflix, Splashtop, Citrix... everything else works flawlessly.

I have been a rabid consumer of the GB video content ever since the podcast led me to the site years ago when Ryan ran the show. I really love the content here and I've had a premium account for a a bunch of months because I finally decided that what the site was giving me was worth SOMETHING, and now I have absolutely no reason to continue doing so. I really really want some way to keep the videos going, and I want to continue my premium membership, but I don't think anyone can blame me for not paying towards a product I can no longer consume.

I'm hoping there is something I can d o to remedy this situation. Are there any suggestions? Is there anything that can be done other than incurring additional costs for a VPN if this really is just a CDN issue?

Specs:

Win 7 SP1 64-bit, all updates installed and current

i7 960 3.2GHz

12GB G.SKILL DDR3 triple channel

256GBx2 Samsung EVO Pro SSD (Boot/Game)

2T/2 Hitachi HDD (archiving)

EVGA GTX 980 4GB

Wait, I don't understand the title of this post. Video stream lag from 1992?

@masturbatingestbear: He probably means that he is having flashbacks of streaming video in 1992. You should check how your connection is routed to GiantBomb, that may be the culprit. Which peers and networks it uses to reach GB.

@trafalgarlaw: You did indeed catch my meaning. OK, but if that is ultimately the issue then a VPN would conceivably work? The peering agreements are what is probably causing this, yeah? I feel bad denying team GB a premium subscription because of larger politics at play, who am I even supposed to be mad at in this situation? =\ I'm mad about not having a target for my internet outrage.

Have you tried this? From personal experience, this can be a temporary fix. http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/bug-reporting-33/a-fix-for-crappy-downloads-speeds-from-giant-bomb-1433284/#37

@gaff: Yes, that's a good suggestion. Still working with Akamai on this.

I have also been experiencing some super lag when watching videos in HTML5 HD, and have gone through lots of the other options to try and fix it.

I get consistent 85 Mb/s download speeds and there is no reason I should have any lag when watching GB!!! I did not have this issue for a very long time.

I'm trying out the suggestions from @gaff and will see how that works.

Thanks!

I'll try the suggestion from @gaff and update as well. Thanks for the tips.

I thought it was going well... but then hit some heavy lag again...

Not sure what to do at this point.

I have trouble watching videos from Gianbomb and Gamespot, so I'm usually forced to watch them on youtube instead. Something up with the players, I feel.

@orbital667: First off, there was no streaming video in 1992. There was barely an internet in 1992 and Quicktime was just about a year old and the videos were postage stamp size... Yeah I'm old.

...anyway

We totally know this is happening. We are trying to tell Akamai this is happening but they say there's nothing wrong. When you see this again, please HELP!

1. Go here
2. In a command window run nslookup v.giantbomb.com
3. Compare that result to the result you got in what's my dns.
4. Is it a server close to you or is it in Pakistan?
5. Try playing a video from gamespot and a video from comicvine. Do you see the same crappy results?

Send the answers to me directly in a private message.

@jslack might also give you a URL to visit that will collect data and send it to Akamai.

I have given up.

I will either download the episodes, or just watch Streaming --> Auto (which never really goes HD) but at least there's no stutters every few seconds.

I edited the thread title, because that confused me too for a second.

Was able to watch a full hour of the new Metal Gear Scanlon with the following settings before it started chugging along and pausing every second.

Streaming HD

Edit:

I then switched to HTML 5 High and watched the rest.

Is there any timeframe on this getting fixed?

Edit Edit: Still lagging after about 10 minutes.

I have tried manually directing the location of the server I want to download from and it's pointed close to my state.

I would like everyone to know I believe I located the problem after much research!!!

If you are STILL having issues and you have AVAST antivirus (or maybe even others).

I removed the Web Shield protection, and it is now streaming perfectly on HD.

I came to this conclusion after I was having the same problems with streaming Twitch videos!

Looked around online for similar cases of people having issues streaming, and it kept coming back to anti-virus software.

Instead of completely removing the component, you can disable the web shield for a few hours and turn it back on once you're done.

Seems to work perfectly again!!!

Hope anyone else is able to solve their issue with this tip.

@tandar1: Good point. Didn't even think to mention this, but I've had lots of issues with Windows virus software in the past, I use nothing but the Windows Defender stuff on my home PC. It used to interfere with lots of stuff, and tries to do filtering on weird CDN urls.

@jslack: Yeah I never would have considered it either, until Twitch started having the same effect. Must have been a new update they pushed... as I've seen lots of forum posts regarding the topic on Avast and streaming issues.

I still have minor issues, but it is NO WHERE NEAR the hassle before I uninstalled the component.

@tandar1: To be fair, as a Comcast user in San Francisco, I can't even watch most twitch streams at Medium quality. Comcast refuses to implement edge caching for Twitch, and the problem persists. ISPs are always fighting with CDN, and it sucks when we can't do much about it.

@jslack: I thought San Francisco was one of the places with Google Fiber?

I was suffering this issue for a few weeks, and then it seemed to clear itself up. However, the last two days or so have seen a return of this. Even my download speeds from the site are garbage. It's incredibly frustrating to not be able to watch even basic stuff like Quick Looks.

@tandar1: Oh man, how I wish. You would think San Francisco would have fiber, wouldn't you? But nope. I have no options, Comcast is the only provider who services my area.

@the_nubster: Have you tried http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/bug-reporting-33/a-fix-for-crappy-downloads-speeds-from-giant-bomb-1433284/#37/ ?

@jslack: Yeah. It seemed to be working for about ten minutes, and then went back to being just as stuttery as before.

I've had this problem for months now, but only on older videos. Everything remotely recent is flawless. Are older videos archived on different servers or something? Interestingly, HTML 5 mode works better, but even on High it's still common practice for the video to stall multiple times during a viewing. HD is simply impossible. I'll be lucky if I'm able to stream over 30 seconds in HD. This is on a 200Mb/s connection, multiple computers and multiple OSs. Direct download speeds are also abysmal. The IP associated with v.giantbomb.com is located in Amsterdam, and I live no more than 150KM from there.

It's a damn bummer, because being able to watch all the old material is a large reason I decided to subscribe.

@edgework: I'm gonna go ahead and say Akamai are full of shit. There is obviously something wrong and if it's not within the Giant Bomb system (which I'm sure has been thoroughly investigated during all this time), it's on their end. A problem that this many people all over the globe are experiencing simultaneously isn't a coincidence or an isolated incident.

@vitz: I have a meeting with them Tuesday...

@edgework: I am glad to hear that. :)

@edgework: Probably a bit early to ask, but any movement on the server front? I'd really like to start watching GB videos again.

It could just be a total placebo, but I've started plugging the direct link into VLC and them streaming it that way. I live in Perth, Australia so my connection isn't much better than your middle of the road ADSL2+, but I have no trouble downloading over Steam at around 1-2MB/s, and other streaming services run mostly without a hitch, but GiantBomb videos have always been terribly hit or miss, and especially for older videos I have trouble even getting them to load in the site player via Streaming Low.

That being said sometimes the GiantBomb player works flawlessly for me, and the VLC method is occasionally hitchy, but it's worked without issue roughly 90% of the time even running the newer 4000kbs^-1 format.

@ohnooh: How does one do that? I'd like to give it a try and see if that goes any better. Considering right now I can only watch about 30 seconds of a GB video, any improvement would be welcome.

@the_nubster said:

Right click on the download link and then hit "copy link address" (Or whatever the equivalent is in your browser) then open up VLC and hit Ctrl+N (Cmd+N in my case) and paste the link in.

Although it's probably just a placebo, because I'm having trouble getting the latest Demo Derby to play at all. It definitely helps with older videos that won't play at all though, or just any weirdness with the player disconnecting sometimes.