How to Get Internet Radio to Stop Buffering

By Ashley Poland

Don't let streaming problems affect your viewing.
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Streaming music enables you to listen to all your favorite songs on a plethora of devices, without worrying about syncing to multiple devices. Whether you're using Last.FM, Spotify or Pandora, each Internet streaming service enables you to listen to music wherever you have Internet access. When your music stops to frequently buffer, it ruins the experience. While buffering is a fact of life when it comes to streaming, be it audio or video, you can take strides to ensure the best possible connection and avoid the dreaded buffering stalls.

Step 1

Check that your computer hardware and network speed meets the service's minimum requirements. For instance, Pandora recommends a minimum of at least a 1.5-Ghz processor and 1GB of RAM -- as well as 150Kbps Internet speed. Spotify recommends a minimum connection speed of 256Kbps.

Step 2

Close down any other bandwidth-heavy application. Even if you exceed the minimum network requirements, your connection only has so much bandwidth to go around. If you're streaming video, downloading files or using a VoIP service this can slow down your Internet connection, and cause more buffering trouble. Other computer users on the network can also cause your Internet radio stream to buffer too often.

Step 3

Pause the video and give it some time to catch up. You can pause the video until another bandwidth-heavy application finishes, or until your connection has had time to catch up.

Step 4

Try a different browser. Sometimes a different browser will work better with some services. If you're using an outdated browser, such as IE7 or an early version of Firefox, consider updating your browser.

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