Why is streaming interrupted

Barb Gonzalez. Barb Gonzalez is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and the Simple Tech Guru, an advocate for simple, understandable technology. Updated on September 18, Michael Barton Heine Jr. Lifewire Technology Review Board Member. Article reviewed on Mar 07, Tweet Share Email. In This Article. How Streaming Video and Buffering Work. What Internet Speed Means. How to Connect Using an Ethernet Cable.

How to Stop Buffering on Fire Stick. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Click here to learn how to improve. Excessive usage on the network: It is recommended to have one WiFi antenna for each room.

Consider using ethernet or improving your setup. Long up-time: The device has been running nonstop for a long time and can benefit from a reboot. Use Airtame. Bandwidth Limits: Other applications can impact Airtame's network traffic to gain more bandwidth.

Check with your manufacturer for firmware updates. Pull the power cord on the router, count to 10, then plug it back in. New Wi-Fi 6 routers promise increased speed, but may require upgrading parts of your device or buying a converter.

Using a virtual private network VPN invariably means a performance hit. Every data packet has to be encrypted and then decrypted at a remote server. You may notice this with video buffering problems, but it affects anything related to PC performance. If you use a VPN, be sure to test and update your settings. Older VPNs or those that are out-of-date may use a single-socket connection, which can easily get jammed up and cause significant performance loss. Get it for Android , iOS , Mac. Get it for Mac , PC , Android.

In the context of streaming video or audio , buffering is when the software downloads a certain amount of data before it begins playing the video or music. You can watch the data stored in the buffer while the next portion of the file downloads in the background. This preloading process ensures a smooth playback process without interruption — at least in theory, and most of the time in practice. Buffering messages often display progress as a percentage.

There are many reasons why you might encounter excessive buffering while streaming video. This can be due to:. The last reason does happen.

Even the top streaming platforms may get overwhelmed during prime time or when a popular new show is released. In that case, there is nothing you can do except wait for the provider to catch up with requests. But this situation is rare. Want more tips on how to make your computer and phone work better? See all our performance advice to make all your devices work harder, better, faster, stronger for you.

Avast Cleanup for Windows speeds up your internet connection and reduces buffering by automatically deactivating bandwidth-hungry background programs. Avast Cleanup Pro for Mac speeds up your internet connection and reduces buffering by automatically deactivating bandwidth-hungry background programs. Get it for Android , PC. Avast Cleanup for Android speeds up your internet connection and reduces buffering by automatically deactivating bandwidth-hungry background programs.

Other Threats. Internet of Things. See all Security articles. Please run the following tests in order to confirm if that is the case:. Conduct a speed test following this guide. If you get satisfactory results, you can go back to this tab. If the above step confirmed that Internet speed is an issue, then here are a few suggestions on steps you can take further:. Contact your internet service provider to confirm they are not working on the lines and ask them to improve the connection to a certain Restream server.

Disable your channels on the Restream dashboard and go live directly to Restream. You will not be live anywhere but Restream. If you have a paid plan with us, then you can view a recording of your stream from the Recordings page. Now, during this test, check to see if there's a lack of free memory or if the CPU is under high load. You can check the percentage of CPU and memory load under the Performance tab like this.