A number of users have reported inordinately slow YouTube download speeds on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. In these cases, users have strong WiFi or 3G signals and experience fast throughput in Safari and other applications, but very slow, stuttering playback of YouTube videos due to poor throughput.
Anecdotal reports from posters to Apple’s Discussion boards:
- “I tried watching a youtube video on my iPad and noticed it was buffering slowly on my wifi. I immediately switched to my macbook (which was right next to me) and streamed the same video super fast.”
- “I have the same problem with my iPad and iPhone inside my wifi network. But my iPhone does fine on a 3G network so I’m baffled.”
- “I’m having the same problem with my iPad (wifi, 16gb). Sometimes if I repeatedly tap the Play/Pause button it loads the video completely in a second or so and ends up playing just fine. However, that method doesn’t always work so it could just be a fluke.”
Potential fixes
Change DNS server Some users have found that using an alternate DNS server can alleviate the slowness. Try changing your systems’s DNS servers to those offered by OpenDNS. To do so,
- Tap Settings
- Tap Wi-Fi on the left-hand side
- Tap the blue arrow next to your current Wi-Fi network
- Tap the “DNS” field and enter the following: 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220
- Exit Settings
Wi-Fi Fixes. Try the fixes listed in our iPad Wi-Fi Troubleshooting Guide, particularly those under “Weak signal/slow data transfer.“