It is getting harder to keep track of regular television programming nowadays since people are so busy, but Television Fanatic has provided a unique service that lets users keep up with their shows during their free time. This service consists of a toolbar that is installed on the user’s computer that aggregates many popular shows and lets people view them online. All of the shows are legally downloaded to the company’s server, and users can even utilize the toolbar with their existing Netflix or Hulu accounts. Despite these many conveniences that are presented by the concept of video streaming, some people still have problems with the concept. Video streaming can sometimes lead to choppy quality or poor download speeds. That is why Television Fanatic has provided some tips on how to improve video streaming quality and speed.
- One of the first tips suggested by Television Fanatic is to shut down other Web applications. People often try to multitask when they are on the computer and have multiple tabs open at once. While many think that this is an efficient practice, it can actually slow down video speed and cause lag for the overall Internet performance. A common problem seen with video streaming is constant stopping and starting, which is called buffering. This slowness is often caused by chat programs, email, or other programs that are constantly sending and receiving data. Television Fanatic strongly encourages users to shut down these other programs except for the primary Web browser that they are using to stream the video. When closing out of these other programs, it is important to actually exit out of them. Some people will just minimize these other windows and assume that they are no longer active, however, minimizing does not make a difference. Once the other programs are closed out, users should close the main browser and restart it so that it can refresh itself.
- The next suggestion by Television Fanatic is to delete temporary files. When a user is on the Internet, the browser consistently downloads tiny files to help display Web pages. These files are usually deleted when a user shuts down or restarts their computer, since many applications have an automatic closing option. In some instances, the user has to manually delete these cache files, which is usually the case when a browser does not close completely or the computer is forced to shut down. If a computer is not able to delete these temporary files, they can accumulate and cause significant performance problems, especially when it comes to streaming videos. Television Fanatic recommends deleting temporary files in the browser manually so that videos can load and play faster and more smoothly. Clearing history from the Web browser is also helpful in some cases since it can contain temporary cache files.
- Installing a software video accelerator is an alternative option for some online video streamers. There are plenty of free applications that people can download including Autobahn Accelerator, Giraffic Video Accelerator, and Speedbit Video Accelerator. All of these programs work with computer Internet settings to enable peer-to-peer streaming, which significantly boost Internet video speeds. Once a user downloads a video accelerator program, they should close down their browser before installing it. The program will improve performance in video streaming by enabling more download threads in the browser and pulling data from multiple sources at the same time. A majority of these video accelerators support prominent video sites, but they may have trouble with lesser-known video-sharing servers.
Television Fanatic Provides Other Solutions to Better Video Streaming
Television Fanatic explains that there are various alternatives for people who want to boost up their video streaming speed and quality. One of the surest ways to improve performance is to upgrade to a faster Internet connection. Many providers have different classes of Internet speeds, each with their own price and data transfer capabilities. Another option is to connect to a Wi-Fi router through a wire instead of a wireless signal. Wireless connections are not as reliable as direct wiring because antenna signal strength can fluctuate.
The last and cheapest technique is to allow videos to load before attempting to watch. Once a video is opened, it will buffer and load in its entirety, even if the video is paused. That means that users can simply open up a stream, pause the video, and then come back in a few minutes or hours when everything is fully downloaded. The more that a video is allowed to preload in the browser, the fewer times that users will have to pause and restart the video.
“If you are running off of a similar Internet connection than several other users, the best course of action may be to coordinate data usage. Some people can use the Internet during the day, and others can use it at night. This prevents congestion in the Internet bandwidth and can really boost video streaming speeds,” opines a representative from Television Fanatic.