When we are watching a streaming series, if the transmission bar hangs and does not advance, it can be due to multiple reasons, depending on the time of the problem. The most common are usually crashes due to lack of RAM —if the screen freezes it may be due to this problem—, due to a slow connection —derived more times than usual by the lucky cache— or due to lack of storage —if playback involves downloading files, of course. Let’s see which solutions are best suited so that you can continue enjoying your favorite series or movie.
Try a speed test
Netflix has its own speed test. To find it you have to touch on your profile icon > App Settings > App Settings and, finally, go to the section ‘Diagnosis‘, within which you can execute a ‘internet speed test‘, using fast.com.
Of course, you can also run it online, without the need for any application. From the device you are using for streaming, access the browser and run a speed test directly from the new window. A) Yes you will be able to know if your connection is stable and fast or if it is suffering from a temporary outage or failure.
Reboot the router
Rebooting is always a good thing. “Sometimes a perfect storm is triggered by a series of small failures that cascade down and prevent everything from working properly.” And a reboot prevents this.
Something as simple as turning the router off and on again restores connections. In this way, the last ones that are being used, such as your streaming, will be positioned as a priority.
Use a LAN connection (if you can)
Going from Wi-Fi to Ethernet cable is always a strategic advantage: double the theoretical speed and the absolute priority of your connection over the rest.
We recommend you go to the cable and connect your device directly to the router in case you are using a streaming application through a PC, laptop or console. If you are using the mobile, obviously you will not be able to unless you use an OTG adapter.
change network
When things keep failing and you can’t turn to cable you can always try changing the band frequency. We are not talking about changing the WiFi network and starting to use the neighbor’s, but about making the leap from the 2.4Ghz connection to the 5GHz one. If your device is compatible with dual WiFi you can take advantage of this possibility.
It all depends on how close you are to the WiFi point or router: the 2.4Ghz band has a greater range, but is more unstable. The 5GHz band is much wider and more stable, but its range is also much lower. Combine as best suits your need.
Or restart the browser
And following our optimization advice, close and reopen the browser you are using, if possible by clearing the search historyis another important solution to reorder resources and prevent RAM drained in open processes from affecting your experience.
Clear the app cache
The cache is used to store the preferences of the application, from the login to the last searches and language and subtitle preferences. But they give more problems than one would suppose at first glance.
To clear the app’s cache data, search for the app in the app drawer and either long press the icon or search for it individually. Once you enter into your preferences and ‘Application information’ you can access the storage section. Now you only have to clear the cache, the local storage or, if you wish, delete all the data of the app.
Or delete and reinstall the app
If the above does not work, we recommend reinstalling from scratch, deleting the app and downloading it again from the Play Store. This way you will also guarantee that you are using the latest version of that application.
Change streaming quality (temporarily)
If the failures are detected when you are viewing download content, we recommend changing the quality from high or “highest” to “standard” or “medium”. All applications that allow you to download content have this option in the ‘Account’ section, by tapping on the profile icon.
From this section it is also possible to modify the transmission/playback quality, something very useful if we are facing a network with few or saturated resources. In fact, if you’re watching a stream on a small screen like a tablet or smartphone, we don’t even recommend going for the highest quality (UHD 4K), since you won’t be taking advantage of it and It will ultimately depend on the compatible resolution of your mobile.
Add some ‘Game Turbo’
This is a very little known trick and only available for terminals compatible with Game Turbo, that is, Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO mobiles. In essence, you can speed up the streaming network performance of any app, not necessarily a game, by bringing it into the Game Turbo menu and tweaking the settings from there. You will notice the improvements instantly.
Or accelerate by hardware
If, on the other hand, you don’t have an app like Game Turbo, any Android phone has a function to hardware-accelerate the performance of a particular application. First of all it is essential to have activated the developer functions, so you will have to touch 7 times on the ‘Android version’ section of your mobilel. Now follow this path:
- Go into ‘settings’ of your mobile.
- Go down to the ‘Additional settings’.
- Tap on the section ‘Developer Options’.
- Now scroll down to the ‘Networks’ section and enable the ‘Hardware acceleration for sharing‘. This trick will give priority to active applications, so that they work more stable and efficiently.
Reset the system of the device you are using
Okay, he’s resisting us. Things get complicated. If the application works fine but you are having trouble, in that case we recommend you reset the device you are using.
We are talking, of course, about restarting the console, computer or mobile with which you are watching Netflix or HBOMax, disconnecting it from the power or turning it off and on again, not simply restarting.
Close everything you’re not using
Whether it’s browser tabs or extra apps, maybe it’s just a bottleneck issue: too many things consuming resources at the same time they can leave your device without enough RAM to handle data downloading and streaming. In that case we recommend you close the heaviest thing that is running in the background.
Maybe it’s a temporary outage…
If all else fails, perhaps the only solution is to do nothing and wait. Through Downdetector you can find out if there is any service in particular that is experiencing cuts in its broadcast, either due to problems with the servers or any other specific failure.
The technical service of your teleoperator can also help you. You can call or write to them to check the status of the network.