How to Stop Buffering on Your Firestick?

At times, buffering while you are streaming your favourite movie or series is annoying and takes away your mood. So, to help you ease up your mood and binge watch your favorites, we have discussed some of the solutions to fix the buffering issue below.

Before Discussing the Ways to Stop Buffering on Your Firestick, Let's First Figure Out the Reason Behind the Issue.

ISP throttling: ISP Throttling indicates the intentionally slowing down of speed by your ISP (Internet service provider). They regularly scan for particular traffic categories, and they might reduce your download speed if you’re streaming too much content.

Remote server malfunctions: Sometimes the issues with your router, modem, firestick or ethernet cable results in  suffering.

Hardware limitations: The server hosting your video content could be operating at a slower pace or could malfunction.

Slow internet speed: Your slow internet connection might also hinder your streaming content.

Reboot Your Firestick

• Open your Firestick and click on the settings from the menu. Now click on the up button (the top of the big circle) on your Firestick remote. 
• To go to the settings, click on the right button and then lastly, click on the center of the circle to choose Settings.
• Click on My fire TV. You have to click the down button (the bottom of the big circle on your remote) to access the Settings options.
• Next, click on Restart , once you do that a message will occur on your screen to confirm the restart option. Click to confirm the restart.
• Lastly, the Firestick will restart on its own within a few minutes.

Uninstall Unwanted Apps

• Go to the home menu and click on settings.
• Now click on Applications and then on manage installed applications. (check for the leftover storage space).
• Click on any app and check out the details about that app including its size and cache data information. And then click on Uninstall.
• Next, click Uninstall again to confirm.
• Meanwhile repeat the process to uninstall any other app if you want to.
• In case you don't want to uninstall it, clear the app cache to clear the space.

Clear the App Cache on Firestick

• Go to the home menu and click on Settings.
• Click on applications and then on manage installed applications.
• Then select an app from the list.
• Finally, choose either Clear data or Clear cache. If you choose Clear cache, this will just clear the cache and keep the rest of your information and settings. If you choose Clear data, this will reset the app to factory defaults and clear all the app-related data, including your login information.

Turn the Collect App Usage Off

• Go to the home menu and click on Settings.
• Click on preferences and then on privacy settings > Collect App Usage Data and turn it off.

Turn the Data Monitoring Off

• Go to the home menu and click on Settings.
• Click on preferences and then on data monitoring.
• Next, turn off the data monitoring.

Turn the Automatic Updates Off

• Go to the top menu and click on settings > open the Firestick.
• Click on applications and then on Appstore > click on Automatic Updates and turn it off.
• It will turn the automatic updates off for the apps which you have installed. Your Firestick will still be updated automatically and it will Stop Buffering on Your Firestick

Turn the Notifications Off

• Go to the home menu and click on settings.
• Now click on preferences and then on notification settings.
• Next, click on app notifications > turn off notifications that you don’t need.

Free up the Firestick RAM

• Primarily, on the home screen click on the magnifying glass icon. In case you own a Firestick remote with a built-in microphone, then search for the icon by pressing the microphone button on the remote and saying the name of the app instead.
• Next, using the directional pad enter Background Apps and Process List. Once you start typing, the name would appear before you complete typing the whole name.
• Now click on the app and then on get. You just have to press down the directional pad and click on the button in the center of the big circle.
• Next, click on open > got it > click on close all apps in the top left corner.
• Lastly, select an app and then force stop
• Once you are done performing the above steps, press the back button on the remote and then the same steps can be repeated for the other apps you prefer to force close.

Tip: Do not close the VPN app you’re using for your Firestick. The app won’t take up too much RAM while it runs in the background. It might also help with your Firestick’s speed.

Install a VPN

Your ISP might be one of the reasons for your slower internet speed as we discussed above. However,  VPN(Virtual private network) can stop your ISP from slowing your connection down. VPN offers you a fully encrypted network that helps you to Stop Buffering on Your Firestick by providing you complete privacy from your ISP at the same time.

To use your VPN service, you need to have a computer system or a mobile phone in order to sign up for a service. After you have installed a VPN, choose the search option on the homepage of your Firestick. Then search for your VPN, install it, log in, and connect.

Perform a factory reset

• On the home menu, click on settings.
• Next, click on my fire TV and then on restore to factory defaults and then confirm the above.
• It will start performing your factory reset.

Perform a Factory Reset Using Your Firestick Remote

1. Press and hold down both the Back and the right key of the navigation circle at the same time for 10 seconds.
2. A factory reset message window will appear on your screen.
3. Then click on reset. (and even after you dont click on it, it will automatically reset after 20 seconds).
4. We hope the above article helped you to Stop Buffering on Your Firestick.