This issue has been going on for months now.

Certain streams have been buffering until they are 8 - 10 seconds behind.
It usually buffers 2 - 3 times, until the stream is 8 seconds behind, and then it runs with no more buffering.
At first I thought it was just random streams, but after I posted about the issue on Reddit, someone pointed out that it's only happening on stream with less than ~100 viewers. Once a stream gets over 100 - 150 viewers, there's no more buffering.
I usually watch stream with lower viewercounts, and interacting with the streamer when the stream is 10 seconds behind is very annoying.

I have submitted multiple tickets, but I only get automated responses with "clear your cache", or "we can't find any issues on our side, please contact your ISP".

It's pretty obvious that Twitch is limiting bandwidth to streamers with lower viewercounts, and it's getting really frustrating using Twitch like this.

Hope this will get fixed soon.

I have a chrome extension installed that allows me to change the speed of any video I watch. Due to this, I can always see the speed of videos in the top left corner. I've noticed that any time a stream I'm watching lags or I fall too far behind live, Twitch will automatically change the speed of the stream from 1x to 1.03x speed. I believe this is a good idea and the change in speed is small enough to not affect the video. However, this speed change DOES affect the audio and in the case of music streams, it horribly detunes the audio. I don't think this speed change needs to be taken out but it needs to be implemented in a way that doesn't affect audio

Improve servers over big streamings events.

This is just logical, but it is quite frustrating that the platform literally looks the other way. I'm talking here about Spain particularily. Whenever some of the biggest streamers make a special streaming, or an event, the rest of the platform falls. And I mean all of it. The rest of streamers won't even have enough bandwidth to stream themselves, which honestly is insulting given how much benefits the platform registers over time. Fortify your servers or die trying, because this happens now more than ever, the rate is increasing and you are disabling hundreds and thousands of streamers for the big fish in the plate that night.

Error 2000 in my experience has been due to the Anti-tracking software I use. This makes the stream crash and quit playing. You need to refresh to get the stream going again. Usually this will cause an ad to play as soon as it is refreshed but not always in my experience. Anti-tracking software does not prevent other streaming websites to run smoothly for me, only Twitch. On my latest Twitch watching stint, my Anti-tracking software shows 13 advertising trackers blocked, 3 site analytics trackers blocked, and 0 essential trackers blocked. My Anti-tracking software states that essential trackers are critical for website functionality. Twitch's website is not functioning correctly though my Anti-tracking software blocked ZERO essential trackers. This makes no sense. The error is not on my part, it is the fault of Twitch and needs to be fixed on their end. I could turn off tracking protection but I have it and use it for a reason, and I am keeping it on. The tracking protection I use does not cause any other website streaming to stop working correctly. This issue has been ongoing for years. Fix your streaming errors regarding Anti-tracking software.

to decrease the overall bandwidth cost

You could increase the bitrate for partners at 15000
keep the same limit of bitrate for the affiliate at 8000

and for a new channel put it at 15000 for a limited time (in condition to have regular viewership and people talking in chat)

and having regular viewer being able to boost the channel popularity with channel points was also really good !

you also can reduce the maximum quality for new streamers to 720p 30fps
and unlock the vod feature only for affiliate and partners but propose to link a youtube account for the new users

As the streaming industry embraces new technology, alongside increased internet speed standards, I would love for Twitch to adopt full transcoding for all active streamers as well as an increase in the bitrate cap to 10k.

The current issue with the 6k bitrate cap for non-partners is inherently-lowered viewer experience. Viewers are consistently looking for superior quality streams as the first impression of long-term engagement and retention, which the current 6k bitrate cap severely inhibits due to automatic pixelation for high-movement games such as FPS. Since partners have the automatic 8-8.5k bitrate cap increase, this gives partnered content creators an automatically increased opportunity on the platform due to increased video quality enhancement while non-partnered streamers making up over 90% of the platform are automatically handicapped to lower settings.

In addition, transcoding should be a set standard for all viewers to obtain regardless of partner status and allow for a flexible viewing experience based on viewer internet speeds instead of automatically forcing non-partnered streamers to lower their video quality settings or pray for random transcoding opportunity.

As a viewer who often watches Twitch broadcasts in Korea, I feel sorry for this video quality limitation
Those who watch the broadcast in Korea want to provide the p2p grid service again.
Everyone agrees that it is not easy to find a profit model in Korea right now
Also, everyone understands to some extent that Korea has imposed restrictions on image quality due to the burden of using the network. But I think it would have been better if I shared this with the streamers who were broadcasting even a week ago.
I hope the streamers I see don't leave Twitch.
So I suggest. Please provide P2P grid service again. I want to see it as 1080P. Both viewers and broadcast creators.
In addition, Korean viewers are also showing signs of shutting down the situation and revitalizing the subscription culture.
The streamers we're watching say they're going to hold out for about a month. But after that, everyone may leave. I don't want this. Please accept this proposal
The paragraph may not be smooth because I wrote with the help of a translator. Please understand this part.