why does my 'smart' tv seem to be always 'buffering', up to every 2-3 secs, making it unwatchable?

Roslina

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For some months, when I try to watch my samsung smart tv, for which we paid much more money than for a standard tv, it spends more time 'buffering' than actually letting me watch whichever channel I choose. Is this a prelude to samsung shutting down the freeview programs or some other nefarious plan? I am looking to buy a 65" 3D tv in the next month and do not want this to continue happening. Is there a more reliable tv I could purchase to eliminate this non usable programming? Do I have any recourse via Consumer Affairs for being sold a tv under false pretenses when the 'smart' option was going to be, or has already been, ceased? Please try to answer these questions as I need some help with them. Thank you
Roslyn
 
Solution
Oh, OK. So you are trying to stream content from online. That's got nothing to do with FreeView.

Is your TV connected to your home network via Ethernet or WiFi? Does it have issues with all streaming apps, or just some?

Do other devices in the house stream video fine?
Are you just trying to watch over-the-air TV? If so, that's not an issue related to the 'smart' stuff.

I wouldn't usually see it use the 'buffering' term for anything related to over-the-air. Is it actually saying that, or is that a guess?

My guess is you've not got a good enough antenna for your distance from the transmitter, and it's losing the signal.

Do I have any recourse via Consumer Affairs for being sold a tv under false pretenses when the 'smart' option was going to be, or has already been, ceased?
What smart options have been removed from it? I seem to remember that Youtube and maybe a few others were shutting down a few APIs, but that's Youtube's fault and you'd have to go after them.
 

Roslina

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Roslina

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I am actually trying to watch pre played shows on the free channels I have missed out on free to air, normal tv, so need the smart option. We have a special, digital antenna and have no problems with anything else. I try to watch Yahoo7, sbs on demand and ABC iview. So these are the only smart options I use. I haven't tried to watch YouTube for a while but it worked last year, when I did last watch it.
 

althex

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Sounds to me as if you've got an ISP problem, I have a Samsung Smart TV from 2012 & never had a single issue with streaming video from my pc. I've had buffering issues before, & that is an ISP problem with the way they prioritize that particular video stream on their network. If you are having problems streaming video via the internet it's most likely a problem that you can report to your ISP.
PS: My TV is connected to my home network via WiFi
 

molletts

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Jun 16, 2009
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If you're watching pre-played shows ("catch-up TV" as we sometimes call it here in the UK), the TV will be using the internet connection to stream them rather than getting them via the antenna.

It sounds like your internet connection isn't fast enough or, if the TV is connected to your router by Wi-Fi, perhaps the wireless signal isn't strong enough and is limiting the speed of its downloads. My parents have this issue as the set-top box they use is separated from the router by several brick walls and a large granite chimney-breast but they're able to set it to "record" the show (i.e. download it) then watch it later from the hard drive instead of streaming it "live" (it takes about 1½ hours to download a 1-hour show). If your TV has a similar capability (I know some Panasonic ones can act as a PVR if you plug in a USB hard drive but I don't know whether they can record on-demand stuff), maybe you could work around the problem this way.

Hope this helps,
Stephen
 

Roslina

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Jun 15, 2015
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Roslina

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Hi, our pcs are connected via cable, to the router but the tv, tablet, laptop and mobiles are connected via wifi. No problems with any other device, re streaming. We had a large upgrade of software to tv in early part of the year and problems worsened after that.Mostly a sign appears on screen saying which ever app (tv channels) I try to access are 'not available'.Now my smart phone, also samsung, also had a large software update, is getting 'screen freeze' and blacks out screens since then and nothing will work on the phone. I can't turn it off and reset it as no buttons work. I end up having to remove the battery to reset it. Have you heard anything about this either? It has only been for the past few weeks but is very concerning. Thank you for trying to help me.