Live streaming youtube is soooo slooowww. Why? (screen, wifi, pc)

[PilgrimsProgress]

I like to watch the evening news on youtube and I can only watch a few seconds at a time before that little rotating circle appears and the screen freezes. Doesn't youtube have a premium service now or something? Are they deliberately slowing things down so you buy?

My Firefox browser automatically updates, my 8.1 Windows automatically updates. I have a new ESET security antiviral or whatever it's called.

Live chat window pops up during the show and I always close it.

What the hell is going on?

[mshultz]

My suspicion is that YouTube has a lot of background activity that is stealing bandwidth. I know there are other websites that cause my cooling fans to rev up, indicating a lot of unnecessary (in my humble opinion) demands on my bandwidth and cpu. I have 6 GB DSL, which should be plenty. How you get websites to prioritize in favor of the viewer is another matter.

[Peregrine]

I don't agree with that. YT does not have 'a lot of background activity' going on. For every person that has "slow live streaming issues" I bet there are 100 that don't.

Give us your PC Specs. What internet speeds are you paying for? Have you tried running a speed test when this happens?
Some types of internet get slower during "Prime Time" because you are sharing bandwidth.

[bigbear99]

^+1. It would also be useful to know if you have an ethernet cable connection or wifi. If wifi, what band and in what kind of place you live, such as rural manor or big apartment building. Wifi congestion is a real problem in denser environments.