In this article, I will show you how to stop buffering on FireStick. The troubleshooting steps provided in this guide work on FireStick 4K, Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Cube, as well as older Fire TV devices.
How to Stop Buffering on firestick Amazon FireStick is one of the most popular streaming devices in the world. It’s incredibly easy to set up and use. It supports tons of awesome apps from the Amazon Store as well as several third-party apps. Overall, FireStick makes for an amazing streaming experience.
However, many users also experience buffering issues with their FireStick. The percentage of these users is low. However, given that millions of users have FireStick, this small percentage represents a considerable number.
If your FireStick continues to buffer all the time, this article discusses various possible reasons and solutions.
Here are the reasons why using a VPN at any time is essential.
Read: How to Install and Use a VPN on Fire Stick
What causes buffering on FireStick
Several factors can be causing the buffering issue. Here are some of the most common reasons why buffering occurs on FireStick:
Slow Internet Connection: It is recommended to have at least 10 Mbps for 1080p streaming and 20 Mbps for 4K streaming. If your Internet connection is slow, you will experience buffering issues
ISP Throttling: Your ISP may slow down your connection speed from time to time if it detects too much streaming activity.
Modem away from FireStick: If your FireStick is placed too far from your Wi-Fi modem, your signal strength will be low and cause buffering issues
Lack of RAM: It is not uncommon for FireStick to run out of RAM. There can be a lot of unnecessary apps running in the background
Lack of storage:
Again, it is common among FireStick users. The device has only 8 GB of space, much of which is already used by the operating system
FireStick overheats: If your FireStick overheats, it’s likely to cause buffering issues.
Outdated Firestick operating system: You may experience buffering issues on FireStick if it is running on an outdated operating system
Here are the solutions to stop buffering on FireStick:
1. Restart FireStick
If you can’t really pin down the exact reason behind the FireStick buffering issue, a trick, as simple as restarting your device, could be the solution.
In fact, restarting is one of the most basic troubleshooting methods and should be one of the first to try. It can solve many problems.
Here are the steps:
Go to FireStick settings
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Click My Fire TV
How to Fix Buffering on Firestick
Click Restart
How to Fix Buffering on Firestick
Click Restart to confirm
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2. Take care of internet speed
You probably have high-speed broadband and internet speed is not an issue for you. However, I still recommend checking the internet speed as the first troubleshooting step.
If it turns out that you’re actually getting a desirable internet speed on Amazon FireStick, you’ll have eliminated that concern.
And, if it’s the slow internet connection behind the buffering issues, you can always contact your ISP to find out the reason or you might even get a new connection.
Any speed above 10 Mbps is enough to stream up to 1080p resolution
If you’re streaming 4K videos, at least 20 Mbps is recommended.
Here’s how to check internet speed on Firestick
If your Firestick isn’t getting the internet speed you want, here’s what you need to do next-Check and improve Wi-Fi signal strength
Signal strength plays a key role in a smooth streaming experience. The signal strength is stronger when the modem is near your FireStick and weaker when it is far away.
Here’s how you can check the signal strength on Amazon FireStick and act accordingly:
Go to firestick home screen settings
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Click Network in the next window
How to stop buffering on the firestick
Highlight your Wi-Fi address/name
On the right, you will find the status under Signal Strength
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If it says Very good, you get proper Wi-Fi signals. If he says poor or weak, there is a problem.
Usually, the modem should be within 20-30 feet of the device for the best signal strength. If your modem is further away than that, you may want to consider buying a Wi-Fi repeater. As the name suggests, a Wi-Fi repeater extends the coverage area of your modem, allowing it to be effective in a larger area.
You should also make sure that there are not too many electrical devices near your modem that can cause interference with the signal.
And, if possible, place the modem a little higher (6 feet or more) for better signal coverage.
Use an Ethernet cable for a wired connection
Use the amazon ethernet adapter to avoid buffering on firestick wired connection is usually much faster than a wireless connection. First of all, it is not necessary to rely on the proximity of the router to the device. The Ethernet wire is plugged directly into your Amazon FireStick.
Secondly, there are no obstacles between the router and the device. Many electrical obstacles, as well as some mechanical obstacles, tend to weaken the Wi-Fi signal.
You can control or even stop buffering on FireStick with the wired connection. For wired connectivity on FireStick, you can purchase the Amazon Ethernet Adapter for Amazon Fire TV devices from Amazon.com.
The Internet/LAN wire and power cable from your FireStick power adapter will go into the Ethernet adapter. And then, only one cable from the Ethernet adapter will be plugged into your FireStick.
Note that you do NOT need to purchase the Ethernet adapter if you are already getting substantial network speed through your Wi-Fi connection.
3. Adopt a VPN to prevent buffering
Recommended for better speed as well as privacy
private streaming
Internet throttling is a common practice among ISPs. Your ISP may slow down your Internet connection when streaming activities above a certain level are detected. Therefore, you may experience buffering on FireStick.
Fortunately, this can be easily avoided by using a VPN service for FireStick. A good VPN will not only prevent your ISP from limiting speed, but will benefit from it in several ways, such as:
Hide streaming activities from government surveillance and ISPs
Anonymous torrent downloads
Protects personal information from hackers
Unblock geo-restricted content (including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, Hulu, HBO, etc.)
In my experience, ExpressVPN is the best VPN for FireStick. It uses the best encryption technology and is also the fastest VPN.
Currently, ExpressVPN offers a 49% discount on its annual plan. On top of that, you get 3 months free with this plan. And, it also offers an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee.
Here’s what you can do to get ExpressVPN and avoid buffering on FireStick:
Click here to sign up for ExpressVPN
Once you have your ExpressVPN account, turn on your FireStick and select the FIND option in the middle bar
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Click Search
click Search
Search for ExpressVPN and click on it in the search suggestions. Follow the on-screen instructions to install ExpressVPN
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Open ExpressVPN and sign in with your account login information you created during signup
How to Fix Buffering on Firestick
Connect to a VPN server and start streaming
How to Fix Firestick Buffering
4. Clean FireStick RAM
Amazon FireStick has a RAM size – 1 GB on FireStick 2nd generation and 1.5 GB on FireStick 4K. That’s not quite much, but enough for a streaming device. However, such a small memory tends to be taken a little too quickly.
The low RAM space is one of the culprits of the buffering you encounter on FireStick. You’ll be surprised to know that some apps continue to hoard RAM even when you close them.
You can free up RAM space by simply closing the background apps. But, how would you find out which apps are actually running in the background? Forcing all individually installed apps to close is tedious and time-consuming.
Luckily, there is an app that you can use to find the background apps and close them. It is called the list of background apps and processes. You can get this free app from the Amazon Store.
Here are the steps to download the Background Apps & Process List app and use it to close background apps:
Go to the FIND option from the FireStick home screen and click Search
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Find the Background Apps app and process list and follow the on-screen instructions to install it
How to Fix Firestick Buffering
Open the app. This prompt appears the first time.
Uncheck the ‘Open app on startup’ option if you don’t want the app to open automatically every time you restart your FireStick
Click Got it! button
Buffering on amazon firestick
You will see the list of all the apps running in the background. Click Close All Apps in the upper-left corner
How to Fix Buffering on Firestick
You will see the next window for the first application in the list. Go ahead and click Force Stop
When you’re done, press the Back button on the remote.
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You will see the same options for the next app in the list. Click Force Stop again.
Keep repeating this until you’ve killed all the background apps
Note: Don’t force Close ExpressVPN (or any other VPN) running in the background. A VPN runs in the background while ensuring security. Forcing the VPN to close can cause you to lose connectivity to the secure VPN server. VPN apps don’t take up much space anyway.
5. Clear the cache/data of the streaming app
Clearing the cache of streaming apps can help you with buffering on FireStick. Many users have reported that third-party apps such as Cinema APK, Cyberflix TV, Ola TV, BeeTV, etc. have worked better after clearing their cache.
You can also erase the app data to completely reset the app to its factory default settings.
Here are the steps:
Access FireStick settings from the home screen
how to troubleshoot Firestick buffering issues
Click Applications
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Open Manage installed apps
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Now you should see this list of installed apps
Go ahead and click on the streaming app with buffering issues
Click the application with the Firestick buffering issue
You will find the application data and cache data information in the right section of this window
You can do one of the following:
Clear Data: It will erase all data related to the app (including login information) and reset the app to factory settings. It will also clear the cache
Clear cache: If you just want to clear the cache and keep the remaining data intact, choose this option instead
clear cache to stop buffering on firestick
6. Change your privacy settings
Amazon monitors and collects your data under the guise of marketing and improvement. This may compromise your privacy. But it’s not just that.
To continuously monitor and collect your data, your FireStick operating system must keep certain processes running in the background. This could slow down your FireStick and possibly cause buffering issues.
Here’s how to turn off monitoring and data collection:
Open Firestick settings from the Home screen
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Click Preferences on the next screen
How to Fix Buffering on Firestick
Click Privacy Settings
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Turn off the following options: Device Usage Data and Collect App Usage Data
How to Fix Firestick Buffering
Now, tap once on the Back button and click on Data Monitoring
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Turn off data monitoring
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7. Check and update the FireStick operating system
It’s rare, but not unheard of. Outdated FireStick OS may be the reason why you are having buffering issues.
Usually, your FireStick updates automatically whenever the new version of the operating system is available. However, sometimes this is not the case.
So, here are the steps to follow to check for and install operating system updates:
Go to FireStick settings
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Open My Fire TV
How to Fix Buffering on Firestick
Click About
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Click Check for updates
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Wait a few seconds. Your FireStick will let you know if any updates are needed or if your device is already up to date
How to Fix Firestick Buffering
8. Avoid overheating firestick
Overheating can lead to malfunction of the device. It can also cause buffering or streaming issues on FireStick. Therefore, it is important that you keep your FireStick from overheating.
Here is our detailed guide on how to fix the FireStick heating problem.
Although your FireStick can run for several hours without any problems, I recommend that you rest from time to time.
Do not leave it on overnight. Unplug it from the power source.
If you think FireStick has overworked, unplug it from the power source and let it cool for at least 30 minutes.
9. Use Real-Debrid for 3rd Party Apps
Real Debrid is a premium web host that works with a wide range of third-party FireStick apps as well as Kodi addons.
Normally, applications and add-ons connect to public servers. These servers will allow access to almost anyone. As a result, they have a high influx of traffic. This, in turn, causes server slowdown, downtime, and buffering issues on FireStick.
Real-Debrid, on the other hand, is a paid service. It restricts access to the server to premium users. Therefore, Real Debrid’s feeds are much faster and reliable.
You can integrate Real-Debrid with almost all popular apps like Cinema HD APK, CyberFlix TV, BeeTV, and more.
The post How to fix Buffering on FireStick (Sep 2021) appeared first on IPTV are 51.
