get_iplayer suddenly relatively slow

[Nigel Taylor]

On 06/26/11 22:51, Kevin Reilly wrote:
> I've been using get_iplayer on Windows 7 64bit for a while now, primarily
> to download programmes to watch later on an iPad. This is great, because
> the 'flashhigh' versions of shows are a great compromise between size and
> quality and will drop straight into iTunes as mp4s for sync to the tablet.
> 
> A bonus is that they download very quickly over my VirginMedia 20Mbps
> connection, with a half-hour show normally available in no more than a
> couple of minutes or so.
> 
> I say normally, because occasionally I will notice from the RTMPDump
> output that the download is proceeding relatively slowly, around 0.1% per
> second for a 45-60 minute show. In the past whenever this has happened
> I've quit get_iplayer, deleted the temporary flv file from the download
> directory, and started the download again. This normally restarts the
> download at the faster rate; on very rare occasions I've had to do this
> twice in succession before a fast speed is obtained.
> 
> But this evening it is crawling permanently. I have re-started downloading
> the latest Top Gear a dozen times and it is refusing to download quicker
> than 0.1% per second. As a test I also tried an omnibus of Eastenders and
> the latest Newsnight and they're exactly the same.
> 
> Could this be something that's changed at the BBC end? It's always
> concerned me that since iPlayer is designed to buffer and play in real
> time the Beeb might one day introduce some sort of throttle for those
> connections that are clearly pulling data faster than normal streaming
> would require.
> 
> Alternatively, it's not out of the question that VirginMedia might be
> doing some tweaking to iPlayer traffic from their end. That would not be
> without precedent. They appear to do all sorts of weird peering and
> transparent caching with other services; sometimes YouTube slows to a
> crawl on even their fastest connections.
> 
> Input from other users, especially those on Virgin, would be appreciated
> before I start pulling my installation apart looking for a problem that
> might not be local.
> 
> For the record I'm using get_iplayer 2.79, installed using the Windows
> installer, in conjuction with RTMPDump 2.3. The video mode is normally
> 'flashhigh1'.
> 
Hi,

I have noticed the same, BBC (iplayer), ITV (ITV player), Channel 5
(Demand 5), Channel 4 (4oD), all appear to be extremely slow during the
day and evening, come midnight speed goes up, around 8:00 speed drops
back down on mon-fri, weekend different. But YouTube seems fine. Other
sites including video downloads run at normal speed.

Somewhere someone is deliberately slowing the traffic down. Not a
little, this is to a point well below where the lowest quality
audio/video can't be played in realtime. I checked using get_iplayer and
getting normal speed currently. Previous download Wednesday 1900 too
slow, download fine at 0100 Thursday, download 0010 yesterday fine.

I would suspect it's BBC's suppler's or your ISP, or between is doing
traffic shaping. Do you have the same problem if downloading from other
sites, if they run at full speed, it's highly likely to be some form of
traffic shaping.

My get_iplayer download was coming from 195.10.39.71 this is registered
to CW / akamai.com, BBC don't provide the service directly, they use a
supplier like Cable and Wireless, they might be shaping traffic.


Regards

Nigel Taylor