discussion YouTube Premium causing playback issues on desktop (buffering + dropped quality)

[tahirmehmood]

Hi everyone,

Not sure if this is the right section, but I’ve been running into a weird issue with YouTube Premium on my desktop and wanted to see if anyone else here has experienced something similar.

I’ve got a stable internet connection (no issues with downloads, gaming, or other streaming services), but on YouTube Premium I’m getting random buffering, sudden drops from 1080p/1440p down to 480p, and sometimes videos just hang for a few seconds before resuming. This is happening on multiple browsers (Chrome and Edge), so it doesn’t seem browser-specific.

What’s strange is that the same account works perfectly fine on my phone over the same network.

Things I’ve already tried:

• Clearing cache and cookies
• Disabling extensions (including ad blockers)
• Updating GPU drivers
• Switching between hardware acceleration on/off

System specs if it helps:

• Windows 10
• 16GB RAM
• GTX 1660 Super
• Wired connection (not WiFi)

Could this be some kind of codec/DRM issue, or something network-related that only affects desktop playback? Any ideas or things I should check next?

 

[Shadowarez]

odd i have the opposite issue with my S25 Ultra it buffers lags and this is on short form vids not long form only way to get it running without lagging/buffering is to turn on my vpn (windscribe) then all of a sudden it works without issue even on 4K vids.