I’m sure I’m missing something really basic as I often stream videos/pay per view movies onto my PC but lately I’m having more and more difficulty doing this.
I have a powerful computer (2gig RAM, good video card and fast processor) and a good internet connection - 2mbps - so don’t know why this is. I currently have my internet connection over a wireless network at home (my mum and I share our connection) which may be an issue and I’m thinking of getting my own line/connection. I also use Windows Media Player 10 to watch stuff without any other applications to help which may not be helping me.
Grateful for any advice! 
IP
Are you having problems exclusively with streaming items off the 'net, or streaming things from one computer to another, too? If your computer to computer streaming is slow, it sounds like your wireless connection isn’t up to par. It may be the old, slow wireless, or there may be a lot of radio interference with your fast wireless. Physical ethernet is really the way to go if you’re going to do a lot of streaming, such as for building a media center.
If you’re having trouble streaming only from the internet, then the problem is likely your net connection more than anything. Do you stream video at the same time as your mum? What’s your net connection speed? And then what’s the server speed (you won’t really know that). For example, I have 6mb/s to the net, but trust me – it’s marketing bull-plop, since none of the servers I ever talk to are in any way capable of serving content that fast, i.e., in practical use it’s the same as a slower connection. I’m not trying to brag about connections, but if you’re at something relatively good, it may not be your connection but rather the remote server.
Also try a download speed tester and let us know what kind of speeds you get at various parts of th day.
Thanks Balthizar - I did a test and I was “off the scale”, so beyond the 2mbps limit it had (440 kbps per second or somesuch). So thinking it might be the website, or indeed the time of day. I guess I just find it hard to believe that sites that host streaming media aren’t up to the job of it - I’m convinced it must be my fault 
My mum doesn’t stream media although she somtimes uses the net at the same time as me, but it’s me doing all the bandwith-intensive activities.
Also try apple.com/trailers, or maybe it’s apple.com/quicktime/trailers – they usa Akami to intelligently distribute high-bandwidth streaming media all over the world. You may have better luck there. That doesn’t help you with the content that you want to see, though. Maybe Google your way to see who distributes using the Akami network…