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It's a 70/30 split. 30% of the video I watch will have issues. And those videos will often spend more time buffering than playing the video.
And nearly 100% of the content I watch should be in youtube's caching system. As I almost universally watch new releases from my subscription page and don't tend to let the algorithm recommend anything to me. This has been my normal for years.
Except lately it's gone up to nearly 100%. I can't load a damn thing anymore (as of the past month or so). It just sits and spins, multiple devices including phone on cell network. I can only get phone to work using something like Grayjay.
You can claim that my ISP interchange might be at fault... But that wouldn't explain why I have no issues with virtually any other platform on the entirety of the internet that I exchange packets with. This would still be squarely youtube's fault. My ISP is one of the big ones, Lumen (Centurylink/Quantum). Lumen owns backhaul. A lot of backhaul. While it's possible my local interchange is completely crammed full in other situations, I happen to know it's not. We're not even 1/4 of the way through their build out in my area. And the fiber goes straight to the head end for my area. There's capacity galore.
What's likely, and has already been cited is the fact that youtube has been waging war again firefox for a long time. It's well documented. Further Google also has a history of targeting specific users where an account simply being logged in will achieve the same effect of constant buffering.
Youtube is bad. Here's the kicker... Other platforms? Never have an issue. Twitch, Odysee, Rumble (Cringe platform, but a couple people I watch went there even though I wish they went elsewhere), hell even most peertube instances work with better results than Youtube does for me.
At this point I'm not interested in help fixing it. It's clear there's no helping Youtube. The platform is broken, both in the business sense and technologically.
It's pretty easy to check if this is caused by YouTube throttling Firefox. Just install a chromium browser for testing or check if the YouTube app is still buffering. Well, only if you're actually interested in finding out the cause of the issue.
If you just disagree with YouTube's actions, it's best to just boycott them altogether. My personal anecdote is that I've only had issues with YouTube on Firefox but not any other browser for a short period, which does prove that they had history of throttling Firefox, whether intentional or not. It's just hadn't been a problem in my area of the world currently.
Just install a chromium browser for testing or check if the YouTube app is still buffering.
I'll just slit my throat while I'm at it. Your solution is to put power in google's hands. I'm not interested.
it’s best to just boycott them altogether.
They've done it for me! I can't load their content even if I wanted most days.
Not to use, just to check. Use a VPN and install it in a VM or something if you're worried about their tracking. Don't be so anti-Google to the point you start to sound unhinged. Installing a chromium browser for 10 minutes for troubleshooting shouldn't be compared to slitting your throat. Relax for a minute. Boycotting Google is a good thing that I myself am not prepared to do yet, but let's not be unreasonable about things.
Installing a chromium browser for 10 minutes for troubleshooting shouldn’t be compared to slitting your throat.
that was a joke... but text can make jokes hard.
But like I said, I'm no longer interested in debugging/fixing Youtube's problem. I've had issues for months... probably years at this point. I've given up putting time into fixing their shit.
Just use freetube on Linux and smartube on your smart tv
Yeah, sorry for not getting the joke. And not wanting to deal with YouTube completely makes sense. I did add that this is only if you're interested in knowing the source of the problem, but outside that it's not really worth the hassle.