What To Do When Your Amazon Fire TV Stick Buffers / Stops

If you're looking for a way to add smart TV functionality to an older flatscreen, whether it's without any streaming service or no longer has app updates for its platform, the range of Amazon's Fire TV devices is a fantastic addition. From Netflix and Hulu to HBO Max and Amazon's Prime service, there's no shortage of media you can watch on your Fire TV, and since the device starts at just $29 for Amazon Fire Stick Lite, that's an option. affordable and easy to use for everyone install.

Of course, like any gadget, your Fire Stick can and will run into bugs and glitches. One of the most common issues users have with their Fire Stick is repeated buffering issues, stopping their streams right in the middle of the final season of Stranger Things or Big Mouth.

While this can be annoying, luckily it's rarely a sign of a serious problem with your device. Instead, it's usually issues with your internet connection not being fast enough to handle streaming on your network. Let's see how to diagnose and fix this problem.

Firestick Buffering Issues: Check Your Internet Speed

The first thing to check is the internet connection speed that your Fire Stick has access to. Streaming video is pretty bandwidth-intensive, and if your internet connection isn't up to snuff, your Fire Stick may not be able to keep up with the episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer you're streaming. The main reason your Fire Stick might buffer is that it doesn't have enough video streams loaded to keep playing, and it needs to catch up.

Select your preferred browser from the Fire TV home menu and navigate to the search bar. If you don't have a browser installed yet, you can follow these steps to access the Silk browser.

1. Install Silk Browser on your Firestick. If you already have a browser (the one you want), skip to “Step X.
2. To install the Silk Browser, wake up your TV and Fire Stick using the power button on the Fire TV remote.
   
3. On the “Home” screen, select the "Applications" tongue.
4. Select "Categories", So choose “Utility. »
5. Choose the "Silk Browser" application.
6. Select the " To have " button.
7. The Silk Browser will be installed on your Fire TV Stick.
8. Launch the Silk browser, or one of your choice, on your Firestick.
9. In the URL box, type www.fast.com. The website (owned by Netflix) automatically tests your internet speed when loaded.
   
10. View your downstream internet speed from the generated results.
    
11. Confirm that your speed should meet the following criteria: Standard definition video (without doing anything else) is 3-4 Mbps. High definition video requires 6-10 Mbps. 4K video streams require around 25 Mbps.
12. If your Fire Stick doesn't get more than the minimum speed you need (bandwidth), it won't give you a good video streaming experience.

It's important to remember that you should test your Firestick's internet speed, not at the router or anywhere else in your network. It doesn't matter if your ISP gives you 100 Mbps to the router if your wireless connection to the Fire Stick only goes through 3 Mbps of that. Test on the TV, not elsewhere.

Firestick Buffering Issues: Disable App Data Collection

Another possible source of slowdowns is that your Fire Stick collects data from all apps installed on the device. This activity is one of the things that slows her down. You can easily disable the option in the settings. Here's how to disable app data collection.

1. Select " Settings " in your Fire Stick menu.
2. To choose « Applications. »
3. Select “Collect app usage data”.
4. Switch off “Collect app usage”.
   

   

Firestick Buffering Issues: Change Your Preferences

You can make certain adjustments to your Fire Stick to optimize its overall performance, which can help resolve buffering and freezing issues.

1. Select " Settings " in your Fire TV menu.
2. To choose “Preferences”.
3. Select “data monitoring” and turn it off, then exit the “Data Monitoring” menu.
   

   

4. Select “Notification settings. »
5. To choose « Notifications d’application, » then turn off any notifications you don't actually need. Exit "Notification Settings".
6. Select “Featured Content,” then turn off "Allow video to autoplay" et “Allow automatic audio playback”.

Firestick Buffering Issues: Uninstall Unnecessary Apps

It's tempting to install every cool app you see on your Fire Stick, but it's important to remember that the device is essentially a computer. Just like any other computer, if you load it up with a lot of junk, it will start to run slowly and develop issues. If you're having performance issues, just uninstall any apps you don't use.

1. Select " Settings " in your Fire Stick menu.
2. To choose « Applications. »
3. Select "Manage installed applications".
4. Choose an application and select the "Uninstall" possibility of deleting the application.
5. Repeat this process for any apps you don't actually use.

Remember that your Fire Stick includes a number of pre-installed apps. Therefore, even if you are new to using Fire TV, you may need to search for pre-installed apps that you are not using.

Firestick Buffering Issues: Free Up Your Fire TV Stick's RAM

If you're running a lot of processes on your Fire Stick, chances are you'll run out of RAM pretty quickly. Running out of RAM causes the device to hang or stay in an infinite buffer loop. You can easily free up RAM through a third-party app.

1. Download the Phone Cleaner app.
2. Launch the app and select the “Memory Booster” cleaning option.
3. You can also use the "Waste Cleaner" option to help speed things up, but there's no guarantee it will help, although it will free up more space for the cache and remove old unused data.

Firestick Buffering Issues: Use a VPN Service

As I explained above, fast internet speed is crucial for a Fire Stick to work properly. However, sometimes your ISP may limit your speed because it recognizes that you are streaming video. Throttling is basically the deliberate slowing down of your internet speed to minimize congestion. Luckily, you can easily bypass the limitation. Using a VPN service allows you to connect to a different server and completely avoid congestion and throttling.