Faster speeds help with jerk-free streaming
Jerks can be a great aggravation. I can’t do much about the jerks you encounter in everyday life. But I may be of assistance when it comes to jerky streaming video.
That kind of video — that stops and starts and freezes — is a major annoyance and it’s especially true now that many of you are moving from cable and satellite to services that deliver your TV entertainment online.
To make things especially fun, there are literally dozens of possible causes for that sort of performance. It would be great if I could tell you to simply boost your Internet speed and all will be fine. I could tell you that. But my nose would grow.
Nevertheless, let’s start there, with the speed you are getting, since a slow Internet — either because you are buying a level of service that isn’t fast enough, or because things aren’t working right — can indeed be one of the causes for jerky streaming.
The most common answer, if you ask experts for the minimum speed needed for adequate video streaming performance is this: Between .7 mbps to 5.3 mbps. But, since this is my column and I can make the rules, let me offer my own recommendation for a minimum speed. About 6 mbps is as slow as I would go.
So we’ll start by testing the speed you are getting. I’ve used these test sites:
www.speakeasy.net/ speedtest
speedtest.att.com/ speedtest fast.com testmy.net
To get a semi-accurate result do the test several times at different times of the day and then average the results. Once you’ve done that, compare the speed you are getting to the Internet plan you are buying to see how close you are. Don’t worry too much about minor differences. Just see if it’s in the ballpark.
You want to end up somewhere near or above my goal of 6 mbps. Nowadays many of you are getting service that’s way faster — and that’s great. But for those of you whose service is slower — either
TECHNOBUDDY’S BIG Q&A because of the plan you are buying, or because of some glitches in an adequate plan, you need to kick up the speed. If you are buying more and not reaching that level, the easy way is the right way. Contact your Internet provider and get tech support to help you find the problem. You can search with Google and get all sorts of advice on clearing up a slow connection but why do that? As a paying customer you are entitled to personal help.
Now let’s say you are getting my minimum speed or better but your streaming video is still a mess. Like I said earlier there are so many possible causes that I don’t have the best antenna for you” sort of response. The lucky thing is that there’s a website that lets you enter your address (or zip code if you don’t want to enter the exact address) and will both show you how far away, the direction to the antennas and even the type of antennas you’ll need: www.antennaweb.org.
Start by going there then hit the start button and enter your address or zip code. This site by the way is bug free and safe. As far as my recommendations for a streaming device that connects to your TV, I very much like the Amazon Fire TV. A less expensive option is the least expensive Roku device (about $40). I own both and like them both. the space to go into all of them so I’ll paste in a couple of websites that go into detail.
www.techwalla.com/ articles/fix-choppy-streaming-videos
www.tutorialized. com/tutorial/Slow-Video-Streaming:-How-toFix/35456
After you’ve done some reading, you will learn that infestations of malware can be one of the many causes. So be sure and check for that with a good anti-malware problem — after all malware harms a lot more than just streaming video so I’d check that out first and fix things even if there are other problems.
Let’s say that you try everything and can’t find the cause or that you find the cause and can’t fix it. Your first stop — as I said earlier — is with your Internet provider. Most are accustomed to calls like this and are actually pretty good about helping.
Worst case, if your provider can’t help you may need to take your computer to a professional technician. The possible causes are variable and the fixes can get a bit tricky. It’s not the coward’s way out, it’s the smart person’s way out.
I hope you don’t need any of this and that your streaming video is jerk free. But most people run into this problem at one time or another so you may want to tuck this column away.