Why Can't Dial Up Handle YouTube?

YouTube will not load properly on dial-up Internet connections.

YouTube is a website that allows users to watch and upload video files. Videos are presented on the site in a player powered by Adobe's Flash plugin and can be watched for free from any computer with an Internet connection. However, you will need to have a broadband Internet connection to watch YouTube videos. It is recommended that you don't watch YouTube videos on a dial-up connection.

Problems

When attempting to watch a video from YouTube on a dial-up connection, the streaming Flash video files are downloaded at a very slow rate. This will result in poor video quality, frequent interruptions and dropped connections, due to the fact that the video is not loading fast enough. Additionally, if the video you are attempting to watch is ad supported, it may take even longer, since the advertisement will load before the video.

Reason

The problems with YouTube on dial-up Internet are caused by the low bandwidth of dial-up. A telephone connection can only handle 56 kilobytes of data per second at the fastest speed possible. YouTube was introduced to the Internet after the introduction of broadband Internet services, which offer much faster data transfer, and it was optimized for these connections. Because broadband Internet can transfer 700 megabytes to several gigabytes of data, depending on the Internet service provider, YouTube videos optimized for these connections can not be properly streamed on narrowband dial-up connections.

Simple Solution

If you really need to watch a YouTube video on dial-up, you can try an easy solution. When the video begins to load. select the lowest video quality setting in the lower, right corner of the YouTube player. Press the "Pause" button and wait for the video slider to appear completely red, designating that the video file has been completely downloaded. While this will work for watching videos, it is worth noting that it may take up to several hours for video clips to load completely. There also may be a chance of your dial-up connection "timing out," which will cause the video to stop loading.

Upgrade

You should consider upgrading your Internet connection to a broadband connection, if it is available in your area. This will allow you to watch YouTube with the intended speed and video quality.