Improve Video Streaming

These days, watching a movie is as easy as a few clicks of a button. That is, until the film freezes and buffers just as the creepy slug monster sneaks up on the camp counselor. It's often difficult to tell what is responsible for the slowdown. If making improvements to your internet setup, computer usage, and router settings all have no effect, consider a different internet service plan or a different provider altogether.

Steps

Improving Your Internet Connection

  1. Use Ethernet to get a computer online. A wired connection is usually faster than WiFi. Try connecting your computer to the router with an Ethernet cable and you may notice improvements.
    • This option is not usually available for mobile devices.
  2. Get close to your WiFi signal. If you cannot use ethernet, connect to a WiFi signal, as this is much faster than a standard mobile phone's data connection. Move to the same room as the wireless router, or purchase a WiFi range extender to boost the signal across your home.
    • See the section on optimizing your router below to further maximize your WiFi signal.
  3. Turn off competing devices. If you are on a network sharing an Internet connection, disconnect all devices from the network while they are not in use. Additional computers and mobile devices can slow down a video stream considerably.
  4. Contact your ISP. Call your Internet Service Provider and ask them to analyze your connection for potential problems. Sometimes, the provider can fix an issue on its end that was slowing down your internet. If you have exceeded your data cap for the month, your ISP may be "throttling" your connection, making it much slower until the next billing cycle.
    • Upgrading your internet service package is also an option, or switching to a different ISP.

Speeding Up Your Computer and Software

  1. Close all programs you are not using. If other intensive applications are open, your computer or mobile device may not be able to stream video as quickly as your internet connection would allow. Video games and programs that use the internet can be especially processor-heavy, even if you are not actively using them.
    • The rest of this section is focused on computers. If you are using a mobile device, skip down to the router optimization section instead.
  2. Investigate your computer's memory use. On Windows, open "Task Manager" by pressing Ctrl Alt Delete. On Mac, go to Applications → Utilities → Activity Monitor. Either way, look at the list of processes and decide which ones to close carefully, following these guidelines:
    • If you recognize the name of an application, and are not using it, stop it by clicking End Process or Quit Process.
    • If you don't recognize the name of a process, leave it alone. If unfamiliar processes are using a large amount of "Memory" or "%CPU," try restarting your computer or scanning for viruses.
  3. Get rid of viruses. Some malicious viruses force your computer to use its processing power for another person. Download antivirus software if you do not have any installed, and scan your computer for viruses using that software.
  4. Turn-off-Hardware-Acceleration. Turning off hardware acceleration will allow your video playback application to set the resource requirements, instead of using your computer’s predefined settings. This is a good idea if your computer struggles to handle modern websites and videos, but is not necessary on more powerful devices.
    • On a Windows computer, Turn-off-Hardware-Acceleration and follow the instructions that match your operating system.
    • On a Mac, disable this setting on the Flash player or other video player by right-clicking, command-clicking, or "two-finger clicking" the video itself to bring up the options menu.
  5. Clear your browser's cache. Go to your browser's preferences and find the cache settings. Clear the cache, or increase the amount of space your browser can use to store information.

Optimizing Your Router for Video Streaming

  1. Access your router settings. Access your wireless router settings by typing in your router's IP address, listed here for most common router brands.
  2. Log in to your router settings. Enter the username and password you selected for your router, or the default password for your brand of router. Once you have accessed the settings, continue reading to optimize your network for video streaming.
  3. Turn on QoS or WMM. Each company that makes routers organizes its settings a little differently. You may find a link directly to "QoS" or "Quality of Service," or you may need to click through other menus until you notice a QoS setting. Turn this setting to "On" to prioritize video streaming and other high-intensity network usage. On some newer routers, you can turn on the "WMM" setting instead for a similar result.[1]
    • Select "Downstream QoS" on a Netgear router, not "Upstream QoS."[2]
    • If you do not notice a change, the bottleneck slowing your network down is likely your Internet Service Provider.[3]
  4. Try enabling Burst ACK if possible. If your router has ACK settings, they are likely in the same menu as the QoS settings. Changing your ACK setting to "Burst ACK" may increase your video streaming speed, but it can cause dropped connections, shorter range, or other problems over some connections. Take note of the default setting (typically "Immediate ACK") so you can reverse this change if you notice these problems.
  5. Upgrade your router. If your wireless router is old, replacing it with a newer model may be a good idea. For best results, purchase a router with the 802.11n standard (and not "802.11n draft") for the best signal, or the newer 802.11ac standard.[4]
    • Check that the router's results match its advertising by visiting the WiFi Alliance website and searching for the product name in the upper right search bar. If the product is listed, it has been certified.

Tips

  • If video streaming is unusually slow, pause it and wait for it to buffer, or download the video instead if a download link is provided.
  • If YouTube will only buffer a small section at a time, change this option Make-YouTube-Stop-Buffering.
  • Keeping your browser or video-streaming app updated is also a good idea.

Warnings

  • Be careful when using the Task Manager or anti-virus software to quit programs. If you don't know what an application or process does, do not shut it off.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399897,00.asp
  2. ↑ http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23853/~/how-do-i-optimize-video-streaming-performance-with-downstream-quality-of
  3. ↑ http://www.howtogeek.com/75660/the-beginners-guide-to-qos-on-your-router/
  4. ↑ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347539,00.asp
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