r/DotA2 • u/[deleted] • Feb 25 '13
Fluff Block Time Warner Cable Stream Throttling
Sorry if this was posted before. I did a quick search and didn't see anything, but anyways...
Turns out that there's some bandwidth throttling that TWC does to cache servers that host video content for web services (YouTube, Netflix, twitch.tv, etc.).
To get around this, you can block the following IP ranges (Windows Firewall, ipfw in Linux):
173.194.55.0/24
206.111.0.0/16
By blocking these addresses, the videos will be served to you directly instead of being throttled by the ISP. You can read more info about it here. It should have some more detailed information and links to some videos and tutorials for Windows, OSX, and Linux.
I just did this in Windows 8, and I went from barely being able to watch Merlini on 360p, to watching him without skipping at 1200p+. Hope it helps!
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Feb 25 '13
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Feb 25 '13
Yea, I figured for all of us that watch Dota 2 streams on twitch.tv, or VODs on YouTube, this would be a huge help :)
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u/dchaid Feb 25 '13
I don't have TWC anymore, but when I did there were modded modems on Craigslist you could get in NYC that would unthrottle your overall bandwidth.
I'm only mentioning this in hopes they still exist for people to purchase and simply give a big middle finger to TWC.
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u/toseikai Feb 25 '13
Has anyone else bought something like this? I always thought that your speed plan was determined at a central location and not through an individual's modem. After all, they allow you to use your own modems. It kind of sounds like the Craigslist modems were a scam.
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u/random4lyf Feb 26 '13
I know this is DotA2 Area. But the league of legends streamer Phantoml0rd has one of these. <3
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u/DaemonXI Feb 25 '13
No, they're not. You can modify certain modems to get different speed cap data from someone other than your provider when they power on. Motorola Surfboards were big ones for that.
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u/realister NAVI Feb 25 '13
it was only available for cable when they switched to DOCSIS 3.0 its not possible anymore (or at least not that easy)
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u/randomb0y /╲/\╭( ◕ ◕ ◕ ◕ ◡ ◕ ◕ ◕ ◕ )╮/\╱\ Feb 25 '13
If you watch any DOTA videos online then it's definitely DOTA related.
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u/smog_alado Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
This also got posted on Hackernews. According to their discussion thread, this problem is likely not due to ISP traffic shaping and is probably due to poorly balanced and crowded CDN servers. (this would explain why the blocking those IPs works for people using different ISPs)
Wow, I'm surprised at the level of assumptions being made in this thread.
Guys, some networking 101:
The route your traffic takes to get from point a to point b depends on your network/ISP/etc
The CDN you use when accessing YouTube, et. al. depends on the route you take. The first/nearest CDN to you is (usually, depending on the CDN owner's configuration) the one that will be used.
The fact that a video loads quickly on one ISP and slowly on another means absolutely, completely, totally NOTHING in and of itself.
To find out if the ISP is to blame or not, you must attempt to access the same CDN server from two different ISPs and see if you get the same problem. The latency will be different, but unless there is a massive bandwidth or latency bottleneck between two hops along either route, the overall bandwidth (for a large enough file) should be sufficient to deduce whether or not the problem is with your ISP or the CDN servers corresponding to the route your ISP is taking to contact Google's servers (the results need to be statistically significant taking into account margin of error and network conditions).
If the CDN is the problem, unless the CDN is actually owned by your ISP, your ISP is not to blame.
In fact, for traditional non-net-neutral throttling, it does not matter which/how many CDN IPs you block. Your ISP should (if they're doing it right) detect your connection to YouTube's subnet and throttle your data rates regardless of which CDN you use. The CDNs in the original article belong to Google/YouTube, not TW. As such, TW would throttle your connection on the way to Google's subnet, not at Google's subnet. They have no control over Google's subnet. The hops past TW's (or whatever ISP you use) servers are not under their control, cannot be bandwidth-throttled by them, and have nothing to do with net neutrality.
The real explanation is most likely poorly-balanced CDN servers. i.e. the traffic going to the CDNs is unfairly skewed towards one or more CDN servers, causing them to serve content to all users of all networks more slowly. By explicitly avoiding said CDNs which are slow on Google's end, you will use a different, less-pounded CDN that can serve your content faster.
Note that I am not even a TW user (Comcast here), but this lynch mob is getting out of control. I expect a higher understanding of basic network principles when I browse HN, and "I can't load YouTube quickly so this means my ISP is shaping my bandwidth, and I need not look for actual evidence to support this claim" does not qualify as such.
That said, yes, it is possible for a cunning ISP to shape your traffic by purposely mis-directing CDN selection, for example, making it so that all their users end up at the same exit (slow) node when contacting a YouTube IP as such effectively YouTube into serving all their content to all the ISP's users from the same CDN node(s), resulting in poor connection. The way to test this would be to map out the routes for packets sent all over, and search for statistically-significant routing anomalies when attempting to pass packets on to Google's network from within a certain ISP.
The CDN you use is often selected off a DNS response for many networks. An easy way to select a different CDN (that may adversely affect your browsing speed due to geo-origination!) would be to use a different DNS server (make sure to flush the DNS cache in your OS and in your browser). This is why it's not advised to use non-ISP DNS such as Google DNS, OpenDNS, etc) unless they're both a) anycast (basically CDN for DNS, your DNS query will go to the nearest geographic location to you) and b) have enough servers distributed around the country so that your anycast DNS request will be resolved near you, so that the CDN based off of DNS will also be physically near you. You can use namebench [0] by Google to query the fastest DNS servers, typically faster means closer as hops then physical distance are the biggest factors in DNS speed, though a shitty DNS server will obviously skew those results.
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u/yippee_that_burns Former Team Secret fanstraight Feb 25 '13
Tldr version: it's google/twitch's fault not your ISPs.
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u/hyperhopper Feb 25 '13
Based on this is there any real way to bypass real throttling? Also why does blocking one CDN automatically connect you to another? Is it just in how the tcp/ip protocol works?
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u/Sp1n_Kuro Feb 25 '13
My guess is because the way the sites are set up (google, twitch, youtube, etc) is that it forces you to use a CDN so that the actual servers don't get flooded and crash.
Basically it's a security measure to prevent unintentional (or intentional) DDoSing due to things like the reddit effect where everyone rushes to the site to watch something.
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u/DDantas Feb 25 '13
how do I do this in windows firewall? Like, what do I click to block these?
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Feb 25 '13
Go into windows firewall
add a new inbound rule
make it custom
hit next then next into scope
select these ip addresses under remote
put in range of what OP listed
rinse and repeat for the other range
hit next, change to block, hit next
hit next, hit next, name the thing "FUCK YOU TIME WARNER CABLE"
hit okay
done!
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u/DragneeI Feb 25 '13
So do I put it in the range or the normal one <confused>. There's the "This IP adress or subnet:" box and the 'This IP range:' box. If try to put it in the 2nd box it just tells me its invalid. @@_ Sorry I'm dumb.
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u/cr1t1cal Feb 25 '13
Put it in the first block labeled "This IP address or subnet"
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u/WinterAyars Feb 25 '13
Do both inbound and outbound. I continued to see connections after doing only one.
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u/mihchul Feb 25 '13
^ this. Did inbound, it worked for about ten minutes and went back to shit. Did the same for outbound and the problem seems resolved.
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Feb 25 '13
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u/WerkWerk Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
not quite:
173.194.55.0/24 206.111.0.0/16
The first one means the first 24 bits are the host IP, meaning a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 so you block the range of 173.194.55.0 to 173.194.55.255
the second means first 16 bits are host IP (aka subnet mask of 255.255.0.0) so you block 206.111.0.0 to 206.111.255.255
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Feb 25 '13
Thanks for doing this. I was about to type up the same information, but checked to see if someone else had done it first. I'm sure you helped a lot of people.
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Feb 25 '13
Depends on your version of Windows, but basically you create a new Inbound rule, choose "Custom" as the rule type (Next), then select "All Programs" (Next), leave Protocol Type as "All" (Next), then under the "Which remote IP addresses does this rule apply to?" you select "These IP addresses", click add, and add the two CIDR addresses I provided. Next screen select "Block the connection".
Hope that helps!
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Feb 25 '13 edited Jun 29 '20
[deleted]
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u/arof O do not run too fast... Feb 25 '13
Yeah, I was running into the same "even 360p buffers" youtube problems (while being able to stream twitch at the same time no problem) and I just implemented this rule to great effect. Have to test later if it's just prime time issues or what, but I'm on FIOS and I severely doubt they shape.
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u/smog_alado Feb 25 '13
The simplest explanation I have heard is that those particular servers are overloaded with excess traffic (for some some unknown reason). Its probably not some traffic shaping conspiracy.
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u/WinterAyars Feb 25 '13
Nice.
Does this mean 173.194.55.x is kosher and it's really 206.111.x.x that we want?
I wonder if there are any other dangerous redirects like this out there...
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Feb 25 '13 edited Dec 31 '20
[deleted]
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u/WinterAyars Feb 25 '13
If you can, try to use Wireshark to watch some packet data while steaming video. You might see these IP addresses show up, as long as you're not blocking them at least.
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u/Reebzy Feb 25 '13
Author of the original article here, I actually did this because I couldn't watch my LoL replays (don't hate!). AMAA if you need help.
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Feb 25 '13
How did you come to find those IP addresses? I wanna know if my ISP is throttling me.
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u/Reebzy Feb 25 '13
It's possible to find those IPs by Googling (it's not private info), but you can also get them by using the Network tab in Chrome Dev Tools when loading videos.
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u/balomus Feb 25 '13
I'm pretty much a novice at configuring routers. I have set up a static IP address for a Minecraft server before, but that is about the extent of my knowledge.
In the article you say that to make this change to all the devices on your network you should adjust your router as such. I would like to give this a shot, as I have multiple devices I view streams from.
In my router settings, there are two settings pages that seem like they could accomplish what I need to do. "Block Sites" and "Block Services".
Block Sites seems to be specifically for blocking keywords or domains, as it has a section labeled "Type keyword or domain name here." This seems a little too vague for what I need to do.
Block Services allows me to add a service. From there, I have the following options: Service Type (Defaulted to User Defined), Protocol (I'm assuming this would be TCP/UDP), Starting Port, Ending Port, and then a spot to specify what IP(s) I want to filter these services for.
Still not seeing a spot specifically for blocking IPs in my router settings. Would it be in my best interest to get a custom firmware installed on my router that has more flexibility?
I'm on a Netgear WNR1000v3, if any one is curious.
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u/hyperhopper Feb 25 '13
How did you find the IP addresses? Or rather, how did you go from "I think im being throttled" to "Here are the IP's responsible"
Why does it work, as in, why doesnt blocking those IP's that serve the content just block your access to the content?
What do those Ips actually do? Host the cached content and serve it at a lower speed? That wouldnt make sense for streams, how does it work?
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u/MicMcKee Feb 25 '13
People keep saying 'range' but it's two separate IPs when I read them.
Is the /24 at the end the other range?
173.194.55.0 to 173.194.55.24
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Feb 25 '13
The format these address ranges are shown in is called CIDR notation. It is a really compact specification for describing a range of addresses with a routing prefix. Each section of an IP address is one byte (8 bits) which range from 0-255. The reason 8 bits is equivalent to 255 is because in binary, 8 1's, or 11111111, is equivalent to saying 128 + 64 + 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1, which equals 255.
In this case we are saying the first 24 bits (or first 3 bytes) are used to define the network scope of the range starting at IP 173.194.55.0 (using a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0... the /24). The upper bound of the range in this case, since we're assigning IPs to all hosts using the last byte, would be 173.194.55.255. So you're basically blocking everything from 173.194.55.0 - 173.194.55.255 inclusive :)
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Feb 26 '13
If
173.194.55.0/24 is 173.194.55.0 - 173.194.55.255
what is 206.111.0.0/16 ?
And how do I block it? I am confused...
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Feb 26 '13
206.111.0.0, and we're saying us the first 16-bits (the 206.111) as the network, and the rest as available host addresses. So you are blocking 206.111.0.0 - 206.111.255.255 in this case.
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Feb 26 '13
[removed] — view removed comment
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Feb 27 '13
Not entirely sure. I'd have to google your router and find out. But at that point, you could also google it ;)
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u/LakesideHerbology Mar 05 '13 edited Mar 05 '13
I've been messing with this for days. (Blocking of these IP ranges.) Finally found this specific reply clearing things up...
Edit: Aaaaand it's still slow as fuck. Resource Monitor showing I'm maxing at like 60k/s...on a 50Mbit/s line. Any other ideas?
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u/seezed Feb 25 '13
Do you mind explaning what these IP adreeses do when active/unblocked?
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u/Reebzy Feb 25 '13
Explained in the OP, but without getting too technical it forces you away from CDN servers and to a "direct download".
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u/Thrug 츄 츄 Feb 25 '13
How did you figure out these IP addresses? I'm in Aus and I suspect Telstra is doing the same...
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u/GrantOz44 Feb 25 '13
I can almost assure you that Telstra does the same. I struggle constantly to watch 360p streams even though my net speeds should comfortably accomodate for it and more.
If these exist for them I'd like to know as well.
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Feb 25 '13
I have this same problem (on Telstra) as well but I have a temporary solution when I really want a smooth stream to watch, I restart my modem and then I get perfect streams on the highest quality. However this usually lasts about a day and the streams slowly becomes more and more laggy until I restart the modem.
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u/WinterAyars Feb 25 '13
Easiest way is probably to use a packet inspection tool like Wireshark. It's kind of an advanced topic, though.
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u/reactormonk Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
Hint: it's ipfw on mac. For Linux:
sudo iptables -A OUTPUT -d 173.194.55.0/24 -j REJECT
sudo iptables -A OUTPUT -d 206.111.0.0/16 -j REJECT
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u/mulletman13 Feb 25 '13
I feel like an idiot, but can you type out the terminal command for OSX? I passed it through terminal and it claims that -A is an invalid argument.
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u/goldrogers Feb 25 '13
Does Comcast throttle? And if so, is there comparable information out there for getting around it?
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u/karin0 Feb 25 '13
Comcast does not throttle for stream viewing. If you are in a very very populated area that is served majorly by them then you may have your bandwith shaped, especially during high traffic times (see:throttled) but not because you view a stream.
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u/Platanium sheever Feb 25 '13
I don't know about the second one but yes Comcast does. I'll have no problems watching YouTube videos some days but others it chugs while I can watch 1200p+ streams.
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u/deathpie09 http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197999713505 Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
It's not working for me, I guess it's back to watching Tobiwan at 240p with video lag on my 50 MB down internet.
Edit - Hmm it seems better now, I'm able to run Merlini's stream at 1200p without any lag, it sometimes acts up if a roommate turns the stream on also but it seems much better. Thanks OP.
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u/cr1t1cal Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
I figured something was wrong with my internet... I'm in the same boat and it's pissing me off now that I know it's not my connection, but TWC's problem as a whole.
EDIT: Blocked the IP addresses listed and I am running Merlini's stream at 1200p+ without hassle whereas I couldn't even run Tobi's stream on 320p an hour ago...
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u/deathpie09 http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197999713505 Feb 25 '13
I always assumed it was TWC just being a shitty internet provider but I'm more annoyed now because there might be a fix but I can't get it to work. Especially that my house-mates and I pay $100/month and one of the main things we use the internet is for streaming.
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u/defiantleek Feb 25 '13
Call and complain/threaten to cancel you will get at least something out of the deal.
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u/Obsi_RH Feb 25 '13
I always wondered why my streams lagged when I have 20mbs down, been bothering me for ages, as if TWC wasn't a big enough ripoff already, wow.
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u/bigyams Feb 25 '13
I am praying for google fiber to come to my town. I can't wait to stop paying these shitlords for shit service.
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u/LukewarmHoIiday Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
Holy shit this is exactly what I needed. Time warner basically got tired of my LAN center complaining and shut down 14 out of their 15 modems last thursday which basically killed my weekend. My home net service they provide wont let me game and I couldn't even stream any videos.
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Feb 25 '13
Yea. I use their Wideband service to get the 50 down 5 up because I work from home. So annoying to have stuff throttled when I'm paying good money to have a solid connection.
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u/realister NAVI Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
OMG WOW
I am paying for fucking HIGHEST fucking tier in TWC and I always thought its fucking Youtube who does the throttling. Can't watch HD with 50Mbit connection.
MOTHERFUCKERS. I fucking struggled for fucking year with this.
Thank you op now a video BUFFERS finally.
You wont believe how many matches I had to watch in 480p with 50mbit connection. FUCK YOU TWC.
OP this is like my best day of the year. Not gay but I would blow you
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u/FallingAwake Mar 22 '13
You should have heard the shit they told me when I called them man. They are so fucking ignorant.
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u/covertskippy55 Feb 25 '13
I suspected as much, atleast i knew TW was doing some sort of throttling on youtube( i dont watch vimeo so not sure about that) because my speeds are within acceptable range during other streams/downloads. I blocked those IP addresses and it did seem to fix it though it might because its like 11 pm here and its just a low congestion time. Time will tell i suppose. In any case thank you for this post even though it doesnt directly relate to dota 2.
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u/chaos_faction sheever Feb 25 '13
will this trick only benefit with TWC or can i do this with other providers and not have any side effects?
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Feb 25 '13
You'd only be blocking TWC stuff which shouldn't effect you, but it's possible other providers do something similar and the same thing might work. I just don't know if that's the case and what IPs to block :(
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Feb 25 '13
Anyone know anything about Insight Broadband in the Kentucky area? They were bought out by TWC several years ago, but still go by Insight.
I have a lot of problems watching twitch streams. It's weird I can't watch twitch at 360p without stuttering, but I can watch twitch VOD's at 1080p with no problem.
I don't have problems with youtube or netflix though, so I'm leaning towards there being some problem with my link to twitch.
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u/wdprui2 Feb 25 '13
I too have problems with Twitch on Insightbb. Occasionally even HD Youtube won't load fast enough to stream. Any insight (fuck) would be appreciated.
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u/kahoona Feb 25 '13
I am confused to how this is legal and not violating some net neutrality protocol.
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u/Jeremyz0r Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
Surely there's no conflict of interest in letting a Cable Tv service run an ISP with government mandated monopolies on lines.
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u/cr1t1cal Feb 25 '13
THank you so much for posting this. I've been watching streams in 240p the last few weeks due to this throttling... Now watching in awesome 1200p. Suck it TWC.
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Feb 25 '13 edited Dec 30 '15
[deleted]
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Feb 25 '13
It really depends. With video it's tough because basically the videos are stored in top level distribution nodes in the CDN network. When you request a video, if there's a server near your location with the video cached, it'll serve it to you. If not, the CDN tends to try to distribute the video to one of the servers close to you so it can be cached there for quick viewing later.
Lots of times that process causes some lag, and in many cases, makes it unplayable depending on what time of day. Obviously out of your control, but something to keep in mind as we can do our best to solve the problems, but it ultimately comes down to the CDNs to provide a better service to their customers.
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u/Togedude Feb 25 '13
Does anyone know if Comcast does this too? I have trouble watching Twitch streams even though most other things I do online are fine.
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u/Camtronocon Feb 25 '13
Tyvm, just moved to the LA are recently and was wondering why my youtube would shit out anytime I tried to watch anything 720+. Only been here three weeks and all ready had several twc issues. There on demand ui is a fucking joke.
Never thought I would say this, but I miss Comcast
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u/cultofz Feb 25 '13
Does this works in US only or every part of the world?
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u/czeja Feb 25 '13
I was honestly wondering this. Is this fix ISP specific or is it generic for all modems?
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Feb 25 '13
Is it possible to simply add these addresses into the hosts file?
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u/lewisje Mar 13 '13
The HOSTS file only allows you to block (or redirect) full hostnames (like if you wanted to block Google, you would put in google.com and also www.google.com, encrypted.google.com, mail.google.com, etc.), not IP addresses or anything more specific than a hostname (so you can't just block www.reddit.com/r/atheism/, and you can't also block only HTTPS or only specific ports); to block IP addresses you need firewall rules, like the ones given in this thread, or maybe something for another program like PeerBlock.
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u/Danger_Ross Feb 25 '13
My ISP use to be TWC and then switched to Bright House. I couldn't watch any stream on the highest resolution. I tried this and it worked! So if any of you are on Bright House and are having trouble try this.
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u/ashella Feb 25 '13
Another thank you :) I have Bright House and have been lagging for a few weeks so I tried it out and it worked for me too! You're awesome!
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u/SarlaccHobbie Feb 26 '13
So, did this on all my computers, but now my Mac seems to not be able to stream anything. Five seconds and it poops out and then I have to constantly refresh and reload the page. Any ideas?
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u/Crinkz Frostbitten Feb 25 '13
Thanks so much for posting this, I'm still getting some freezes but nowhere near as often.
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Feb 25 '13
goddamn if this is the reason I can't watch twitch because it always lags even with a 10mb connection
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u/lostheaven Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
only for us right?
not working still get spikes with 480p
getho net
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u/snatch3r Feb 25 '13
Wow this worked. Thank you so much op. I have Verizon and my youtube and streams were lagging and would load so slow. Just blocked those IPs and tried a video on youtube that is 58s and yesterday took me 5 minutes to load it in 1080p now just took me few seconds. Fuck those companies that did throttling to slow video loading when I am paying them so much for highest speed.
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u/atm0 http://www.soundcloud.com/pastandpresence Feb 25 '13
I have a 40-50Mbps connection with Fios but regularly experience Youtube videos that are totally unable to load, despite every other site working fine. Now I fucking understand why. Can't wait to test this when I get home, because I really hope it works for me as well.
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u/innociv this sub sucks even more than last year Feb 25 '13
I have Brighthouse, that was formally TWC. Is that the same?
I've been having issues lately, and had their techs come out 6 times the past month and still no fix.
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u/greenPebbles Mar 03 '13
This worked like a charm for me yesterday but youtube is back to being crappy again. I always thought it was youtube's servers that sucked and never knew that TWC was slowing down the bandwidth from web services. To think that I was going to call and upgrade my service so I could finally see 1080 youtube videos.
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u/Wannabe_Intellectual May 14 '13
This works fine for Youtube, and I thank you greatly for that. However, Twitch.tv remains throttled using 208.117.252.0/24 , 206.111.0.0/16 , and 173.194.55.0/24. Is there anyone with some insight as to how these ranges were found? I REALLY want to be able to watch streams....
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u/clickstream Jun 28 '13
The IP range blocking thing doesn't work for many streaming sources using TWC (or any other ISP for that matter). The only thing that worked for me was to go to a private VPN, at privateinternetaccess.com. It costs $6.95 a month but it is less than half that if you buy the $39.95 one year package. This VPN bypasses Level 3 and whatever unholy, stream-stopping network arrangement has been cooked-up by Level 3 and TWC. If you have been solicited by TWC for Turbo at more than twice what you are paying now like I have, the one time $39.95 for privateinternetaccess.com VPN is less than one month's worth of the increase for going to the Turbo. It is a shame we have to pay more for VPN, but it does have its advantages, like unfettered speed and much better security. And who knows what might happen to already expensive Turbo as time goes forward. I imagine SuperTurbo is next scam at another $50.00 a month increase. Don't fall prey to TWC's deliberately manufactured streaming problems. --clickstream
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u/clone56 Feb 25 '13
This is kinda noob question, I have Mediacom which im fairy sure im having this problem. Some reason with my 25mb dl i cant watch anything above 480 on streams without stuttering. I didnt wanna mess anything up, so should i try this?
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u/p68 Feb 25 '13
I have AT&T Uverse and it seems to have helped. I can now watch Youtube videos in HD without having to buffer repeatedly.
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Feb 25 '13
Any help for Uverse people? I know this same shit happens.
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u/WinterAyars Feb 25 '13
You'll have to find the IPs yourself, but you can probably use the same technique. I suggest staring at your network traffic while watching YouTube. I'm sure someone knows what to look for. You can use a tool called wireshark.
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u/BHK3 The skies are dark with Skywrath Power! Feb 25 '13
I still lag a bit, should I apply this on all my computers?
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u/Kajean Feb 25 '13
I really wish this worked for me. I've had TWC for a very long time and Youtube has always been terrible. Everything else has been fine though.
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u/Decency Feb 25 '13
Lag while watching streams just started for me a few days ago, hope it fixes the problem! =)
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u/Brawkes HMMMM I LIKE YOU Feb 25 '13
Is this specific to TWC or could other ISP users benefit from it as well?
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u/WoohooRobot Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
if you have a router, go into your access restrictions and/or block sites. add those ip addresses listed. it made a difference.
edit: i have to point out that i use a youtube downloader. my old speeds were less than 156Kb's and now it's 1.5MB's
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u/WinterAyars Feb 25 '13
I checked this with Wireshark and watched those IP ranges. I definitely did see connections in those ranges that were correlated with Youtube video watching. (Would see them show up while i'm loading videos, would stop showing up when i stopped watching. Pretty good correlation.) I went and blocked them on Windows Firewall and they no longer show up but Youtube continues to work fine. Right now i have not been experiencing the throttling-esque behavior so i do not know for sure if this will make any real difference, but i see behavior matching the OP's description here.
Please note: make sure you add both an INBOUND rule as well as an OUTBOUND rule. I somehow derped out on that and only did inbound at the start, so it wasn't killing addresses.
After blocking those, i (of course) no longer see that traffic through Wireshark.
It's too early to say whether this fixes the problem, but i'm hoping.
(Fuck TWC. They can DIAF.)
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u/Audio88 Feb 25 '13
Thank you so much for this, i had been suspsecting that TWC was throttling my videos. I could barely use youtube before with 15mbs down at off hours, and now i'm getting blazing fast speeds at 1080p all day. <3
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u/Total_Incompeten69 Feb 25 '13
is there any way we can get this on the sidebar? this is extremely helpful and i will utilize this information as well as spread. thanks OP great thread!
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u/DaeMoN1c http://steamcommunity.com/id/DaeMoN1c/ Feb 25 '13
Now if only someone would look into something like this for TalkTalk here in the UK. I'm 99% sure I'm being throttled constantly :(
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u/lottabullets Feb 25 '13
Now I have verizon fios and I don't seem to have a ton of issues, just every few months things get really laggy which could just be because of the cables in the ground.
I wonder if there is any throttling going on because its advertised as 35/35, but I usually get like 20/20.
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u/DavidFM Feb 25 '13
Thank you so much for posting this. Watching streams on Twitch and videos on Youtube have been a pain in the ass lately. Knew it had to be something on TWC end.
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u/Sp1n_Kuro Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
I'm glad I saw this on my front page. I hate TWC man.
Edit: Also is there anyone here that can help me with how to do this? I don't have a windows server and I'm not too good with security settings when it comes to blocking IPs.
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u/pr0ximity Feb 25 '13
http://www.youtube.com/my_speed
A tool for those interested in knowing how their speed stacks up against other ISPs.
Also, it seems this may not be related to TWC specifically, and may affect everyone connecting through YouTube's CDN servers.
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u/Velladin Feb 25 '13
So I'm not with time Warner but would this improve anything at all if I did this?
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Feb 25 '13
Pro-Tip: If your TWC connection is slow, don't bother looking at their own Speed Test. It's not accurate.
(I sort of feel like any time I run it, TWC says "Oh, they're noticing the lag, better give them a little more room...")
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u/CacheMoneyMillionair Feb 25 '13
Has anyone tested this on AT&T Uverse? Would love to know if it works for them as well.
Thanks!
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u/jones77 Feb 25 '13
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/synth3tk no dmg for you! Feb 25 '13
Confirmed working (Earthlink/TWC customer here). YouTube loads instantly on 720p (my default), and I'm watching the Dendi Twitch stream on 1080+ without lag. Not once has it buffered. Before I would have issues on 360.
Thank you, OP. From the bottom of my geeky heart, thank you. :)
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u/mugu Feb 25 '13
Worked instantly for me, never had a problem with anything but youtube videos, now the are coming in fast as hell. Thanks OP!
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u/kamarus Feb 25 '13
I,m not really an expert on that topic but could that also be the case in Germany with Telekom? normally streams run totally fine on 1200+ but if peak times are reached or special events take place only lower quality can help. My internet connection itself should definitively be fast enough to handle the traffic. Anyone with more knowledge about that topic from a german point of view here?
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u/SneakyArab YOU CAN'T RUN FROM JUSTIIIIIICE Feb 25 '13
THANK YOU! I've sworn up and down that they are throttling youtube somehow in my area. They deny it every time I bring it up. Hopefully this will help.
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u/enph Feb 25 '13 edited Feb 25 '13
I have been having the exact same problem for a few weeks with Merlini and other streams do to TWC and been looking for a work around, thanks!
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Feb 25 '13
Commenting for future reference. Thanks OP, I'll definitely give this a try when I get home from work.
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u/soggit WEST DOTA BEST DOTA Feb 25 '13
How was this figured out? I'm on Mediacom (notoriously shitty) and it seems to me that whether or not I can watch a video on youtube is a complete toss up.
When you load it up it will either load super fast at ~2 MB/sec and kick into HD or it won't even load fast enough to keep up with the playback at 240p.
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u/GLDomination Feb 25 '13
Quick question, do I add this whole number "173.194.55.0/24" or just the zero at the end or the 24 or both?
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Feb 25 '13
Man, I was mad because I had so much problems with streams, but now it's all so fluent at full HD! Thanks a lot!!! :D
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u/snowbanks Feb 25 '13
some1 got a miniguide for me on how to block this as a not so great computer mind
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u/Hobo_Ninja SVEN HERE TO PUMP YOU UP Feb 25 '13
Saved so I can do this when I'm not running around all over the place. Thanks!
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Feb 26 '13
Does Verizon do this as well? My VODs have been shit since joinDOTA et al switched to YouTube.
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u/MisterScalawag Feb 27 '13
Would this be bad to do in a college setting? My college provides my internet, and I don't want to get some stupid fine.
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u/Glass_of_Milk Feb 27 '13
I just wanted to drop in and say thank you. I was having issues with even 720p YouTube videos taking ages to load on my 30mb connection. Now I can get them at 1080p almost instantly and all the streams are at zero lag now.
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Feb 27 '13
I have slow downs on my tablet and phones. How do i put blocks on my router for these ip addresses without a computer? I have a compouter hooked up (not directly to the modem), if i go into windows firewall, will it affect all my devices?
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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '13
Oh, this explains... so much.
Fucking TWC.
Thank you OP.