Streaming using mobile phones isn’t really uncommon. In fact, it’s one of those things we usually do unconsciously — whenever we scroll through our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms. However, streaming movies, yes, not 30 to 60-second clips, but 90-minute to 2-hour-long movies, has also become common on phones, especially for people on the go, like students and working professionals. A common question we all ask ourselves whenever the movie starts buffering is… why is my internet slow when streaming movies on my phone?
There are many possible reasons why your internet becomes slow when using streaming services on your phone. However, it varies depending on different factors that only you can assess and check. We’ll be sharing the possible reasons why this is happening to you.
- You have poor cell service.
If you’re streaming a movie on your phone and notice that your internet is slow, what’s the first thing you would check? For most people, they’d check the signal if they have 5G, LTE, or E. These are indicators of how strong or weak the service is in your area. So if you have E or EDGE, unfortunately, you won’t be able to watch your movie anytime soon. However, if you have 5G or LTE, you should be fine.
- You don’t have enough data.
Sadly, if you don’t have enough data, you will experience a slower connection, especially when doing a data-intensive activity like streaming. If you know yourself that your current plan is not enough for your online activities, it would be better if you look into different cell service plans and upgrade your current plan. This way, you’ll be able to enjoy streaming without worrying about running out of data in the middle of the movie.
- Too many apps are running in the background.
Apps that are running in the background also eat a portion of your data. So if you have a lot of running background apps, it may affect your mobile streaming experience. A good habit would be to close all the unnecessary apps before you start watching to avoid unnecessary buffering or network slowdown. It’s also a good habit to always do this, even if you’re not going to watch anything.
- Your phone is running on outdated software.
Sometimes, we forget to update our phones, and that can slow things down without us even realizing it. If your phone’s system or the streaming app hasn’t been updated in a while, it might not run as smoothly. The apps may also become incompatible which may lead to lags or buffering while streaming. So you need to check if it’s really your internet connection that’s having problems, or if it’s your device already.
- Your mobile connection can’t keep up with the set video quality.
Most streaming apps give you the freedom to choose the video quality you want to watch in. So for example, you can choose from low, medium, high, or ultra, or for others, 360p, 720p, 1080p, or 4K. It depends on the streaming platform, but if you have your quality set too high, you will likely experience buffering or low-quality videos if your internet speed isn’t fast enough.
What you can do is to set the quality to a lower setting that is enough for your current internet speed. This way, you won’t have to endure constant buffering or pixelated videos while streaming on your phone.
Final Thoughts
Using our phones to watch movies is one of the most convenient ways to get that entertainment fix we need, whether we’re in the bus on our way to work or school, during our lunch break, or while we’re lying in bed before sleeping. These are just some of the possible reasons why you think your internet is slow when streaming movies on your phone. The best solution would be to upgrade your cell phone service if you think that you’ve exhausted all efforts, but it’s still not working. Good luck!
