Question

Buffering on television

  • 21 July 2022
  • 8 replies
  • 1634 views

Userlevel 1
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I use a streaming service for TV. Since I switched to T mobile internet I have constant buffering. Sometimes to the point of unable to watch. I ask their representative when I inquired about the service if I would have buffering issues and was told no. It's turned into a real problem. From what I have read so far it doesn't seem that anything is being done to rectify the problem. 


8 replies

Userlevel 4
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did you really expect them to say anything else like “Yes we know we get thousands of complaints everyday” ?

Userlevel 1
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No I did not and thank you for your sarcastic reply.

I have the same problem!!

What's going on with T-Mobile? We have T-Mobile internet and it worked fine the first year, but the last couple of months it's been nothing but problems!! Tried to watch to ballgame today and every five minutes it would start buffering. Did it throughout the whole game. The more it buffers, the more the picture quality gets worse.  Same thing in the evening while trying to a movie. Is it a tower problem? If so, fix your towers, upgrade them, do what ever. If it keeps it up we'll switch to fiber!!!!

Userlevel 1
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There seems to be having the same issue. I don't think T Mobile planned for the number of users they have. The bandwidth they have I don't believe is sufficient. 

Userlevel 7
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Details needed

  • Which gateway do you have?
  • Which streaming provider do you use where the problem takes place?
  • What manufacturer/model of TV is it and how old is it?
  • What are the specifications for the wireless adapter the TV uses?
  • What content resolution are you trying to stream? 
  • Please use the T-MOBILE HI mobile application and collect the cellular signal info for 5G & 4G and post it to the conversation. A screen clip of each would suffice.
  • Use Speedtest.com or fast.com and post test results. 
  • Do other services tend to tun slow as well?

The information you can collect and provide will help profile the operation of the gateway. If it has a good strong, quality signal with low noise then it will be fairly apparent that the problem is upstream. I can only speculate but I would guess there is throttling to limit bandwidth so the throughput of data to the gateway may not be sufficient. It may not be the gateway or throttling but might have something to do with the content source server solution if it is a single streaming source. If there is congestion upstream due to heavy user loads that could be related. 

When I first installed, Speedtest was  showing 200 to 400 Mbps,  now I'm lucky to get 1.  

Userlevel 7
Badge +8

OK well it sounds like they have equipment issues on the tower. They should be able to provide the gateway with an alternate connection if there are other towers/cells close by. Of course if it is the only signal source within reach that pretty much limits it. Hope it gets cleared up soon. 

I'm reading posts on here from 6 months ago.   Seems like nothing has changed.   I switched to T-MOBILE router 2 months ago.   I had no issues.  Now that the "trial" has ended I've had buffering issues.  Seems to be getting worse,  sometimes 3 or 4 times an hour.   Very annoying.   May have to go back to Mediacom or try Metronet.  Does not appear T-Mobile is too concerned about it.   Someone posted that they were not prepared for the influx of customers and do not have sufficient bandwidth.  I hope they upgrade the network soon before people start going elsewhere.  

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