IPTV keeps buffering? How to stop it, step by step

Why IPTV buffers

• Weak or congested Wi-Fi: the most common cause by far.
• Evening congestion on your broadband line or your provider’s network.
• Too many streams at once for your connection’s capacity.
• An overloaded device: low memory, a full cache or an old stick struggling with HD or 4K.
• A small app buffer that cannot ride out brief dips.
• A VPN adding distance and overhead to every stream.
• Problems on the service’s side, typically during very popular live events.

Fix buffering in eight steps

1. Restart everything: unplug the device for 60 seconds and restart the router.
2. Test your speed on the streaming device at the time buffering happens. Allow about 10 Mbps per HD screen and 25 Mbps per 4K screen. See internet speed.
3. Connect with Ethernet, or move to the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band. See Wi-Fi problems.
4. Pause other heavy traffic: game downloads, cloud backups and 4K streams elsewhere in the house.
5. Turn off any VPN on the device or router and test again.
6. Clear the app cache and update the app.
7. Increase the buffer size in your player: Medium or Large in TiviMate, network caching in VLC.
8. Drop to HD for that screen if you are on a 4K plan with a borderline line.

What "buffer size" does

The buffer is a few seconds of video the app downloads ahead of time. A bigger buffer protects you from short dips in speed, at the cost of a slightly longer start and a little more delay behind live. If your app offers a setting, Medium is a sensible default and Large helps on unsteady Wi-Fi. It cannot fix a connection that is simply too slow.

Router tips for UK broadband

• Place the router high, central and in the open, not in a cupboard or behind the TV.
• If your hub combines 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz under one name (common on BT, Sky and Virgin Media hubs), try separating them in the hub settings so the TV stays on 5 GHz.
• Restart the router weekly if it is an older model.
• Ask your provider to check the line if speeds fall well below the minimum guaranteed speed they quoted.

When it is the service

If every device buffers on the same channels while other streaming apps play perfectly, the problem may be on the service’s side. Tell us which channels and when, so it can be checked. Our is IPTV down? page explains how to confirm it.