After learning about the value offered by smart TVs, you cut the cable in its favor and get a large smart TV at home for you and your family. But the slow streaming service on your new device has forced you to reconsider if the decision was right or not.
Instead of letting yourself down, take the time to research smart TVs online and look up “Why is my smart TV so slow?” When your smart TV is not meeting your speed expectations, it’s faced with some problems. This guide will discuss several possible reasons for a slow response and streaming on your smart TV.
Reasons Why Your Smart TV Is So Slow
Here are some possible explanations for your slow smart TV.
Reason #1: Poor Internet
Poor internet connection is among the most common reasons for a slow smart TV. Your internet speed will impact every smart device to some degree. Given the amount of data transmission required for streaming, you need a special internet connection and high speed for smart TVs.
If your Wi-Fi router gives weak signals, it’s either positioned far away from the Smart TV or failing. To check whether the problem relates to the router, move it closer and assess the streaming speed of the Smart TV now. If it gets better, the router is the culprit. For best results, consider replacing your router in this case.
However, if the internet issue is at the provider’s end, there’s not much you can do. You can only call them and file a complaint. Also, certain regions in the US are still deprived of internet speeds that can efficiently handle smart TV streaming. If you’re located in such an area, you’ll probably have a tough time with your smart TV.
Reason #2: Bad Design and Processors
Many older smart TVs were designed poorly or with processors that didn’t suit them. With engineers not knowing what to expect, their setups were subject to several design flaws. So, if you have an outdated smart TV, it’s no wonder you’re faced with slow service.
If you find yourself in this situation, there is no other option but to get your smart TV replaced with a new model. However, it’s important to note that its apps will eventually become outdated no matter how advanced your smart TV is. The manufacturer will no longer offer firmware upgrades. When that happens, using those built-in apps will be extremely difficult.
Therefore, if you decide to buy a smart TV, view it as an ordinary TV. Once its apps become obsolete, all you have is a screen that you can attach cables to and start using it as a regular TV. This way, you won’t regret buying a smart TV because it was something you expected to happen.
Reason #3: Fully Consumed Memory
Like other smart devices, smart TVs have limited storage space consumed by apps, caches, and cookies. The greater the number of apps on your smart TV, the lower will be the available space. Moreover, cookies and browsing history tend to build up over time. In a year or so, the entire memory of your TV can get full of apps, caches, and cookies.
Not only does this make searching and streaming incredibly slow, but you won’t even be able to download anything more. You’ll need to clear all that clutter from your smart TV to get your fast speeds back. Clearing the cache will delete all search history while removing the data will delete all personal information, cookies, and the cache. For an entirely clean slate, delete all data for all the apps.
The exact procedure to erase cookies and clear caches will depend on the smart TV brand.
Reason #4: Support Withdrawal
Top streaming providers like Amazon Prime and Netflix have withdrawn their support for older smart TV models to encourage users to update their smart TVs to the latest models. This is partially because maintaining an app on older TV models consumes a lot of time and money from the producers’ end.
Older streaming apps, which too many users don’t use anymore, are best compatible with the previous generation of smart TVs. Hence, streaming giants such as Netflix don’t find it profitable to invest in maintaining such apps.
As a result, as a smart TV model gets outdated, they’ll also withdraw their support from them. The immediate result of this includes poor picture quality and slower streaming. This is particularly true for smart TV models launched from 2007 to 2014. Using these versions now means the loading time can be lengthy and frustrating.
If you find yourself in this situation and don’t wish to update your Smart TV model right now, there’s a practical solution: use a Chromecast and play your movies, sports channels, and other TV shows from a laptop or computer. To speed up the streaming, you may also leverage inputs like HDMI. The issue with this solution is that you’re not using your Smart TV screen for streaming, which is what it’s supposed to do.
On the other hand, if your smart TV is a 2018 onwards model, its slow streaming has nothing to do with support withdrawal. It might either be an internet issue or some other problem.
Reason #5: Limited Data Available
If your smart TV relies on a data package to stream TV shows, it’s probably subject to a data limit. Even if you’re subscribed to an unlimited data package, there should be a speed cap, which tends to lower the data usage speed after every few hundred GBs of data consumption.
Many internet service providers set a cap at 1000 GBs or 1 Terabyte. This may sound a lot, but when it comes to streaming in ultra HD or full HD, an hour of viewing will drain around 3 GB of data, which will give you a watch time of not more than 34 hours. That’s not even two days! And if you have a large family using different devices for viewing, data will not even last a day.
There are two ways to resolve the problem:
- Talk to your internet service provider and get the cap for your data package increased, which will require you to pay more each month.
- Avoid streaming everything in Full HD. View in full HD only selected TV shows that are most important to you.
It’s important to note that some internet providers will purposely throttle or slow down the internet.
However, before deciding, don’t forget to verify that the data limit is the reason for slow streaming on your smart TV. To do that, use different devices for the streaming service. If you experience a slow service on each device, you’re dealing with a data limit problem. But if the streaming is faster on one device than on the other, this can’t be the problem.
Reason #6: Firmware Update Required
If you acquired the latest smart TV version, it could be incredibly slow, even with high-speed internet. In this case, the apps will take ages to launch, but the streaming should be fast when it gets running. Similarly, you might receive a slow response when you attempt to change the app or switch the show within a particular app.
The firmware update should be an easy fix. It’s the meta-software that the power app launches. To understand how to update the firmware for your smart TV, refer to its user manual. Once you update the firmware, the processor efficiency should improve speed, and your smart TV should run more efficiently.
Conclusion
This guide should have provided you with a clear answer to your question, “Why is my smart TV so slow?” Your slow smart TV is attributed to either a poor internet connection, an outdated smart TV model, the applicable data limit, support withdrawal by major streaming providers, fully consumed memory, or non-updated firmware.
Depending on the slow speed, you can hire a better internet service, increase your existing data limit, get the latest smart TV model, update firmware, or clear your cookies and cache.
We genuinely hope that this guide helps you restore efficient speeds for your Smart TV. If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate and leave a comment below. We’d love to answer any of your questions!
