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Are you by any chance using non-TWC DNS servers? I had this same frustrating problem on Comcast, and it turned out that their CDN works by using DNS to direct y

Are you by any chance using non-TWC DNS servers? I had this same frustrating problem on Comcast, and it turned out that their CDN works by using DNS to direct you to local servers; by using the Google 8.8.8.8 etc I wasn't getting that. Even still, though, I run into certain Youtube videos that absolutely refuse to ever fully load -- it's always non-popular ones, and it's like they cache miss and just never get surfaced for me to watch the whole way through.

trevyn 13y ago
Have had the same experience on Comcast.
earlz 13y ago
I am using different nameservers, but I've tried switching to the default nameservers and nothing appeared to change at the time, maybe I'll have to try it again
w1ntermute 13y ago
> it turned out that their CDN works by using DNS to direct you to local servers Are these servers' IPs static? Can they be hardcoded in your hosts file?
- philsnow 13y ago
  I use TomatoUSB on my home router, which includes dnsmasq (under Advanced / DHCP/DNS, there's a textarea for "Dnsmasq custom configuration"). I have a line in there: server=/netflix.com/75.75.75.75 which tells dnsmasq to use my ISP's dns (75.75.75.75) instead of my default (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), only when resolving domains that look like netflix.com. I don't actually know whether this is an anchored regex or what, maybe I'm spuriously using my ISP's dns for foonetflix.combar.info, but I don't really care. All devices that use DHCP use the router (and thus the custom dnsmasq config) for dns by default. It improved my ability to stream netflix at the time, though I didn't measure it. TomatoUSB has neat-looking graphs, maybe I should run a test. Edit as to your question: > Are these servers' IPs static? Can they be hardcoded in your hosts file? I suspect they use AWS for at least some layer in between you and the bits you want (if not the actual CDN, the server pool that generates the token that you need to get the bits from the CDN), so I don't think there would be a set of IP addresses to hard-code.
  - ANTSANTS 13y ago
    Kinda off-topic, but why do you use Google's DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)? Unless I'm missing something, by doing so you are basically giving them a record of every domain you access. I don't really trust my ISP either, but why share that information with anyone else (especially a company with great interest in data mining everyone)?
    - ddeck 13y ago
      Assuming you don't believe they are lying: We built Google Public DNS to make the web faster and to retain as little information about usage as we could, while still being able to detect and fix problems. Google Public DNS does not permanently store personally identifiable information.[1] More details about exactly what is logged at [1]. As for why, speed and security are the main benefits touted [2]. [1] https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy [2] https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/intro https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/intro
    - philsnow 13y ago
      Despite being a (bit of a) privacy enthusiast, I still use Google's DNS servers, for a few reasons: 1. I use chrome. If I didn't use Google DNS, they'd be able to track 90-99% of my internet usage just by watching what domains I visit in chrome. The remaining portion is e.g. irc, usenet, xmpp, ssh, etc, that doesn't go through chrome. I could use firefox or opera or w3m or telnet or whatever, but I like chrome. 2. I became disinterested in using comcast's dns because of previous internet-breaking shenanigans like http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/domain-helper-service-here-to-help-you http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/domain-helper-se... . 3. I work at YouTube (owned by Google), so I get to see the internal temperament and discussions regarding privacy, data safety, PII, and so on. I'm comfortable letting Google have this data.
  - cosmie 13y ago
    > I use TomatoUSB on my home router, which includes dnsmasq (under Advanced / DHCP/DNS, there's a textarea for "Dnsmasq custom configuration"). I have a line in there: server=/netflix.com/75.75.75.75 > which tells dnsmasq to use my ISP's dns (75.75.75.75) instead of my default (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), only when resolving domains that look like netflix.com. You are my hero, good sir! You've just inadvertently provided the solution I didn't know existed to fix my Netflix and Hulu issues.
EpicEng 13y ago
I found the same thing. I reports it to TW and (unsurprisingly) they refused to admi anything. Switched my DNS to OpenDNS and YouTube works perfectly.

trevyn 13y ago

Have had the same experience on Comcast.

earlz 13y ago

I am using different nameservers, but I've tried switching to the default nameservers and nothing appeared to change at the time, maybe I'll have to try it again

w1ntermute 13y ago

> it turned out that their CDN works by using DNS to direct you to local servers Are these servers' IPs static? Can they be hardcoded in your hosts file?

philsnow 13y ago
I use TomatoUSB on my home router, which includes dnsmasq (under Advanced / DHCP/DNS, there's a textarea for "Dnsmasq custom configuration"). I have a line in there: server=/netflix.com/75.75.75.75 which tells dnsmasq to use my ISP's dns (75.75.75.75) instead of my default (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), only when resolving domains that look like netflix.com. I don't actually know whether this is an anchored regex or what, maybe I'm spuriously using my ISP's dns for foonetflix.combar.info, but I don't really care. All devices that use DHCP use the router (and thus the custom dnsmasq config) for dns by default. It improved my ability to stream netflix at the time, though I didn't measure it. TomatoUSB has neat-looking graphs, maybe I should run a test. Edit as to your question: > Are these servers' IPs static? Can they be hardcoded in your hosts file? I suspect they use AWS for at least some layer in between you and the bits you want (if not the actual CDN, the server pool that generates the token that you need to get the bits from the CDN), so I don't think there would be a set of IP addresses to hard-code.
- ANTSANTS 13y ago
  Kinda off-topic, but why do you use Google's DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4)? Unless I'm missing something, by doing so you are basically giving them a record of every domain you access. I don't really trust my ISP either, but why share that information with anyone else (especially a company with great interest in data mining everyone)?
  - ddeck 13y ago
    Assuming you don't believe they are lying: We built Google Public DNS to make the web faster and to retain as little information about usage as we could, while still being able to detect and fix problems. Google Public DNS does not permanently store personally identifiable information.[1] More details about exactly what is logged at [1]. As for why, speed and security are the main benefits touted [2]. [1] https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy [2] https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/intro https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/intro
  - philsnow 13y ago
    Despite being a (bit of a) privacy enthusiast, I still use Google's DNS servers, for a few reasons: 1. I use chrome. If I didn't use Google DNS, they'd be able to track 90-99% of my internet usage just by watching what domains I visit in chrome. The remaining portion is e.g. irc, usenet, xmpp, ssh, etc, that doesn't go through chrome. I could use firefox or opera or w3m or telnet or whatever, but I like chrome. 2. I became disinterested in using comcast's dns because of previous internet-breaking shenanigans like http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/domain-helper-service-here-to-help-you http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/domain-helper-se... . 3. I work at YouTube (owned by Google), so I get to see the internal temperament and discussions regarding privacy, data safety, PII, and so on. I'm comfortable letting Google have this data.
- cosmie 13y ago
  > I use TomatoUSB on my home router, which includes dnsmasq (under Advanced / DHCP/DNS, there's a textarea for "Dnsmasq custom configuration"). I have a line in there: server=/netflix.com/75.75.75.75 > which tells dnsmasq to use my ISP's dns (75.75.75.75) instead of my default (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), only when resolving domains that look like netflix.com. You are my hero, good sir! You've just inadvertently provided the solution I didn't know existed to fix my Netflix and Hulu issues.

EpicEng 13y ago

I found the same thing. I reports it to TW and (unsurprisingly) they refused to admi anything. Switched my DNS to OpenDNS and YouTube works perfectly.