Forum Discussion
Instagram and Facebook issue on T-Mobile LTE network
Videos buffering on my Instagram and Facebook when I'm on LTE network, despite the fact my internet speed test speed shows more than 90 megabits per second. When I turn my VPN on, it fixes the issue....
Like most/many mobile/satellite ISPs will throttle speeds for detected video streams - typically this is a speed suitable for 480p streaming (although Max plans do allow for streaming in higher resolutions and other plans allow purchasing a data pass that allows streaming in a higher definition).
Most content providers (e.g. YouTube, Netflix, etc) use adaptive streaming so that they'll stream in the appropriate resolution at a lower speed. Alternately some allow specifying the resolution you'd like to stream in. Not sure whether Instagram or Facebook do (I don't use either).
However if any content provider streams in a resolution too great for your current speed, you’ll experience buffering.
Visita https://fast.com and run the speed test there - it’ll give you an idea of how fast your streaming speed is. Then compare that to what you get on a regular speed test site.
As you’ve noted a VPN gets around the video stream throttling - the ISP can’t throttle that which they cannot detect - they’d have to throttle all VPN traffic😊
