YouTube!

[DoZZa]

I am experiencing some strange behaviours with my AC66.

Basically some YouTube videos will play and some will not.

I am using the latest BETA build for the AC66U.

I have a RT-N66U connected to another network which allows all vidoes to be played when I connect to that wirelessly. This includes videos that the AC66U will not play.

I have tried both a wired and wireless connection to the AC66U. This is occuring on more than one PC so its not PC specific, PC's are running either Win 8 or Win 7.

I am at a loss to understand what is happening.

Is there anything I can try?

Thanks

DoZZa

 

[DoZZa]

Well, I changed back to my ISP's DNS servers on the AC66U and did a cache clear in Chrome and also a ipconfig /flushdns and it seems to have fixed it for now.

I re-enabled the OpenDNS servers on the AC66U and did a cache clear and DNS flush and the problem returned. So I can only assume that it was due to the OpenDNS servers.

I cant understand why as I have been using OpenDNS servers for years and never had a problem.

Anyone have any clue why this is happening?

Thanks, DoZZa

 

[jdabbs]

The DNS servers you use have an impact on which Youtube server group you are directed to. If one server group has problems, then switching to another group will alleviate the issue. Could be any number of reasons why the problem was experienced in the first place: redirected to a new group, overutilization, a few servers in the group down (enough to constrain performance), etc.

 

[RMerlin]

The DNS servers you use have an impact on which Youtube server group you are directed to. If one server group has problems, then switching to another group will alleviate the issue. Could be any number of reasons why the problem was experienced in the first place: redirected to a new group, overutilization, a few servers in the group down (enough to constrain performance), etc.

Exactly. Youtube is one of the big reasons why I recommend to NOT use any other DNS servers than those from your ISP, unless you have some real issues with them. Otherwise, you face the risk of being pointed at streaming servers that aren't as close to you network-wise. Youtube is the most common victim. Any distribution content that relies on CDP such as Akamai will also suffer form this. Netflix is another common example.

 

[DoZZa]

Thanks for the above.

Just as a test I used Google's DNS Servers 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

With these in use I am getting the same problems, some videos not playing.

Switch back to the ISP's DNS servers and all is good.

This is quite annoying as I use the OpenDNS parental control feature and now I cannot use this feature.

I will try the OpenDNS servers in the N66U that I have to see if I get the same problem.

 

[DoZZa]

Exactly. Youtube is one of the big reasons why I recommend to NOT use any other DNS servers than those from your ISP, unless you have some real issues with them. Otherwise, you face the risk of being pointed at streaming servers that aren't as close to you network-wise. Youtube is the most common victim. Any distribution content that relies on CDP such as Akamai will also suffer form this. Netflix is another common example.

So would using the OpenDNS or any other non ISP DNS servers stop the videos from playing or just cause buffering issues?

Some will simply not play, they wont even begin to buffer.

Its really odd as I have never experienced this before in the years I have been using OpenDNS.

Maybe something new going on with YouTube servers?

 

[RMerlin]

So would using the OpenDNS or any other non ISP DNS servers stop the videos from playing or just cause buffering issues?

Some will simply not play, they wont even begin to buffer.

Its really odd as I have never experienced this before in the years I have been using OpenDNS.

Maybe something new going on with YouTube servers?

Youtube has caching servers deployed all over the world. Some ISPs (like mine) even have an internal Youtube cache server, managed by Google themselves.

If you use a third party DNS (like OpenDNS), you might end up on any Youtube server anywhere. The main issue this will cause is you might have buffering issues streaming higher speed content.

So it's possible that either OpenDNS is pointing you to a different server than it did before, or that the server to which it's pointing you is starting to suffer from performance issues.

This ism't specific to OpenDNS, but to using anything but your ISP's DNS.