get_iplayer suddenly relatively slow

[Clive]

On 26/06/2011 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'.
>
Same experiences here and I'm on Virgin Media 20MB out of Coventry, and 
Windows Vista, though 32 bit. Some nights, when I have d/l nothing, 
speed is sooo sloooowww that I often give up and try the following night 
- and then it runs like a train. For me, late afternoon is slow (kids 
home from school?) and early evening. Mid-evening and well into the 
night is generally OK.

So, no help from me, but just recognition that I think the logjam is 
elsewhere. Now, where, is almost impossible to find out, though I think 
there are tracer applications which can time each leg of the route so 
that might give you a hint of where the problem is.

Clive