What Causes Fire Stick Buffering?
When you stream video or audio over the internet with a Fire Stick, the audio and video data are downloaded into a buffer. An app on the Fire Stick grabs the data from the buffer and plays it on your TV. Playback pauses whenever the app has to wait while more data downloads into the buffer, and you see a buffering message. The most common causes of buffering on a Fire Stick include:
Slow internet connection.Too many devices are on your Wi-Fi.Poor Wi-Fi signal to your Fire Stick.Out of date Fire Stick firmware.Running too many apps on the Fire Stick.Fire Stick is overheating.Fire Stick infected with malware.Problems with the streaming service.
How Do I Stop My Fire Stick From Buffering?
To stop your Fire Stick from buffering, you can try many fixes aimed at each of the most common issues known to cause this problem. Try each of these fixes in order:
Should I Clear the Cache on My Fire Stick?
You should clear the cache on your Fire Stick any time you experience buffering problems, slow speeds, and app crashes. Clearing the cache forces apps to re-download data previously stored on the device, but there is no other downside. Clearing the cache doesn’t sign you out of apps or remove apps, just temporary data designed to speed things up. You’ll need to have speeds of about 5 Mbps for standard definition video, 10 Mbps for high definition video, and 25 Mbps for 4K video, but some streaming services have different requirements.
Why Is My Fire Stick Lagging So Much?
If your Fire Stick is unresponsive or slow, restarting or resetting the Fire Stick usually fixes the problem. Input lag can also be caused by the batteries in the remote if they need to be replaced. If you’re experiencing lagging audio, where the Fire Stick audio is delayed, you can often fix that problem by switching the playback language, rewinding and fast-forwarding, or closing a video and then reopening it. Restarting the Fire Stick can also take care of lagging audio.
