These days, a huge amount of us rely on streaming sites for our entertainment and education. Thankfully, the days of having to wait literally forever for our LimeWire download to finish are long gone.
In its place, we have a whole range of streams, competing with each other to supply the best content out there in an instant.
In terms of convenience, there just really isn’t any comparison between the old ways and the new.
But, like with any internet-based service, the whole thing relies on one key element – a rapid and consistent internet connection.
If you don’t have that at your disposal, it can feel like stepping back into the old days.
Yet somehow, it is almost more annoying now when you have to deal with slowdowns and glitches.
Watching your shows becomes a bit of a chore when you have to watch them in 5-second segments with buffering space in between.
And, this is precisely what many of you Xfinity Stream users have taken to the boards to complain about.
We’re with you. It’s beyond annoying. So, in this little article, we’re going to get to the bottom of what causes the issue and how to fix it.
Fear not. If this is the info you have been struggling to find, you have come to the right place!
Why Does Xfinity Stream Keep Freezing?
To begin with, we always like to try and get to the bottom of why does Xfinity Stream keeps freezing up on your device.
This way, our readers will understand what is happening the next time and be able to fix it much easier in the future.
However, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that this time, there is no single cause that we can say is definitely to blame.
There could be several factors at play here. In a minority of the cases, the Xfinity Stream App itself is at fault.
But, what is way more likely is that the speed of your internet just isn’t quick enough at the time to support streaming.
Whether that’s the fault of your service provider, or you simply have too many devices using up all of the available bandwidth, we will know by the end of this.
Below are some of the quickest and easiest fixes out there to resolve this problem – all of which you will be able to do from the comfort of your home. So, whether you consider yourself ‘techy’ or not, you can handle this!
So, let’s delve into this a little deeper, shall we?
In our experience, the majority of these kinds of issues trace back to the settings you have implemented on your devices and router.
Asides from this, here are the most common issues that you could be facing.
- Poor quality and unreliable connections being established between the external server and your Xfinity Stream encoder.
- The encoder’s bitrate might be struggling to adapt to and adjust to your internet speed. This one is quite common if your internet speed is quite slow.
- Live streaming just isn’t getting the bitrate that it needs due to the extinguisher.
- This one is really common: too many devices being connected to the same server and all working at once. This overburdens the server, rendering it incapable of working as it should.
- Next up, and again this one is very, very common—sub-par bandwidth, meaning that you can’t expect to be able to stream without problems.
Now that you know the factors of why does your Xfinity Stream keep freezing, it’s time to get into how to fix it.
Below, you will find a range of fixes that we have put together that is designed to fix the problem, no matter what the cause might be.
How to Fix Bad Quality Streaming On the Xfinity Stream App
By following the steps below, you should be back watching your favorite shows in no time at all.
1. Reopen the App:
As we always do in these guides, we’re starting with the simplest of fixes.
It still has a high enough chance of success, though, so we wouldn’t recommend skipping this step.
- All you need to do is close the App for a minute or two.
- Then, reopen it and check the results.
Sounds a bit too easy to be effective, but this one has a proven track record.
If it hasn’t worked, you’ve lost no time at all—time to move onto the next step.
2. Force-Quit The App:
If closing and reopening the App hasn’t worked out for you, it’s time to get a little more forceful with it.
- Try force quitting the App.
- All you need to do for this is hold down the “Home” button.
- In addition to this, it might also be a good idea to restart your phone.
If your phone has been on for days without a restart, giving it a little bit of time to refresh can bring the results that you’re after.
3. Restart All Devices!
As is the pattern here, we’re going to get a little more forceful again with a similar technique from the previous step.
- In this step, you will need to restart absolutely every device that is connected to your WiFi router.
After you are done, have a quick check to see if it has fixed the issue before moving on to the next step.
4. Delete and Reinstall the App
Though this step may sound like it has the potential to lead you into trouble, it is really quite simple.
- All you need to do is delete the App from your phone and then instantly reinstall it.
It might sound a bit pointless, but here’s how it works.
By freshly installing the App again, you are making sure that you are getting the most recent version of the App.
The one you previously had on your phone may have been missing a few updates.
On occasion, outdated Apps simply just don’t perform at all anymore.
5. Do an Internet Speed Test:
Every now and then, customers find that they simply aren’t getting the internet speeds that they were promised by their internet service providers.
The quickest way to check this is to just run a simple internet speed test.
- There are plenty of websites out there that you can check for free. All you need to do is Google “internet speed test” and pick whichever one.
- If it turns out that you aren’t getting the speed of what you paid for, this is probably the root of the streaming problem.
- Get onto customer service immediately and report your findings and demand a fix.
6. Check the App by Using it on Other Devices:
Maybe the problem is with your preferred device and not anything else.
- Simply try running the same stream on a different device.
If the results are much better on the substitute device, you will know that there is a problem with the original device that you were using.
7. Make Sure that you have enough Bandwidth:
Most of us will have Apps running in the background at all times, without even really thinking of it.
Well, unfortunately, even when these Apps appear to be doing nothing, they can be absolutely hogging all of your bandwidth.
You desperately need bandwidth to support streaming, too.
- The logical course of action here is to shut down other idle Apps that might be running in the background.
- While we’re here if there are any other devices connected to the same internet connection that could be stealing the bandwidth.
- So, make sure to shut down idle devices that could be causing the same effect.
8. Upgrade to a Newer Version of the App:
Outdated versions of Apps just never work as well as their up-to-date counterparts.
- So, as a result, it is always an excellent idea to regularly check for updates and perform them before trying to use the Xfinity Stream App.
We’re not suggesting that you need to do this every day, but just be mindful to check every couple of weeks – or if any performance issues start to crop up.
In general, we would also suggest that you keep this in mind for all Apps and software that you use. It really does make a huge difference!
9. Clear the Browser Cache:
With phones, the accumulating cache data that comes with everyday use can absolutely cripple the performance if not kept in check.
- Again, we would recommend checking every now and then that you have cleared your browser data.
It only takes a few seconds and can save a lot of headaches further down the line.
Conclusion: Why Does Xfinity Stream Keep Freezing
We hope that the solutions above help you overcome the buffering issue for you and your loved ones.
If you have found a better fix, do share it with us in the comment section. We’d love to hear from you!
My xfinity app freezes on my Samsung tv. My internet is comcast 300mbps. It is not my internet provider that is the issue!! I think there is a bug in the app that needs fixin.
I had this exact problem. I have 500Mbps with Xfinity and a very good WiFi signal to the TV where I was seeing the freezing Xfinity Beta Streaming app.
The fix was to get a a hardwired (ethernet) connection to the TV. Most newer TVs have an ethernet port in the back. But it’s not always easy to get that connection to the TV. But if you have the latest Xfinity box (I have the XFi Gateway), it may come with MOCA. By default, MOCA is disabled, so to enable it, you’ll have to connect to the admin tool at 10.0.0.1. Once there, you can enable MOCA.
If your TV is near a coax, then you just need to get a MOCA box like the one here (https://www.amazon.com/MOTOROLA-Adapter-Ethernet-Bonded-MM1000/dp/B077Y3SQXR).
Plug that into the coax outlet in the wall, plug an ethernet cable into the MOCA box, and the other end into the TV and you’ll have a hardwired connection into the TV.
Once I did that, I had perfect performance from that Smart TV Xfinity streaming app – no freezing at all.
MOCA doesn’t work for everyone – depends on how the coax is wired in your home, but in many cases, it’s a great way to get a fast, hardwired signal to your devices.
I had to keep reinstalling our xfinity app. Now it just doesn’t reboot at all. And I can’t receive any signal.?
Netflix requires more bandwidth than Hulu…And they are ALL more powerful apps with more complexity than the Xfinity Steaming app. I have 300 connection and All Apps Stream without Hiccup. Even my IPTV Loads without failure/hesitation. This app freezes each time you change to a channel. It doesn’t even continue play. It may skip to a scene every now and then. If you have to plug in directly, then you are not open to all frequencies that are probably available for connection. This is app says BETA..but doesn’t seem to have a final version available on the Samsung App store. However, this is just ridiculous of a bug.
I have had this same issue since updating the Xfinity app on 12/22/2020. Whenever I go to a different app then back to Xfinity Stream, it freezes and I have to download the Xfinity app to continue. HELP!!!!
Had the same problem on my Samsung TV… Unplugged it, counted to 10 and plugged it in again. Voila… Hope it doesn’t happen too often…. And hope this fix continues to work…
I agree. I have no issues running either Netflix or Amazon Prime but the Xfinity Streaming Beta app just plain sucks. I had it on my computer at work and it worked beautifully up until a couple of months ago. Now that too (hard connection) has buffering issues. It’s clearly an Xfinity software issue. Oh vey – and they charge us how much for this?
Have you checked the TV splitter? I had the same problem and once the splitter was replaced, the streaming was perfect.
I have this issue as well with the app on both the iPhone and iPad when watching shows that I’ve downloaded to the cloud DVR. About 1 minute into the show the video freezes but the audio continues. It happens in the exact same spot when I switch devices and never happens on my Hulu live or Netflix apps so it’s definitely within the xfinity app. Seeing how people have been complain about this for over a year I’m shocked that Comcast hasn’t resolved this yet. How loud do we have to be to get their attention?
If you have problems viewing Xfinity Stream Beta or keeping a connection to your devices, check your TV splitter, make sure it isn’t old, replace it if necessary. Worked for me
While any of the above solutions might fix your problem, in your in a particular case. The real problem is in the App itself……………. how do we know this? When every other app on your Firestick works without any issues there is only one consistent variable.