Your Chromecast keeps pausing and you don’t seem to know why? Here is the answer!
In the upcoming guide, we’ll go over the best solutions used to troubleshoot Chromecast, when it experiences pausing, buffering and lagging.
We’ll also learn what to avoid doing in the future, so your Chromecast won’t randomly pause your streams, videos, movies and TV shows.
Chromecast may be pausing your videos due to the outdated OS of the casting device or an issue with the streaming platform itself. It’s also possible that the WiFi management of your casting device and Chromecast is out of order, leading to the pausing issue.
To learn more about this problem’s occurrence, keep reading!
Why Does My Chromecast Keep Pausing?
Before we look at any of our solutions, we should first learn what is making your Chromecast pause that often.
You’ll be amazed after learning how many factors are important for your Chromecast stream’s health and to prevent it from buffering/lagging and pausing.
Here’s what did the users say about this type of Chromecast pausing problem:
- There’s an issue in the Casting Settings between your devices
- A problem with the OS (software) of your casting device (smartphone)
- A discrepancy in the WiFi of your Smartphone and Chromecast Device
- Problematic Streaming Platform or a Temporal Maintenance/Outage
- Issues with the Chromecast Software (Firmware Version)
These are the potential causes for the problem and luckily we’ve found how to fix each of them.
This is why we’ve created an ultimate guide that will address each of them so let’s begin!
Chromecast Keeps Pausing – Best Solutions!
After learning what could potentially cause an impact on your Chromecast streaming, it’s time to unveil the solutions!
We’ll go through every possible way to fix your Chromecast and take notice of what the users said about the problem.
Let’s jump into the guide!
Solution #1 Try with a Different App!
There is a big chance that the particular streaming app is giving you buffering, loading or pausing problems.
What you should do at this point is first attempt to stream through a different installed platform, to determine if the problem is with your Chromecast or the application itself.
In that regard, you should now exit the application that’s suspected of giving you the pausing problem and launch a different problem.
Our best suggestion is to use YouTube or Netflix to understand more about the issue since their servers are always stable!
- Try to stream several different platforms on your Chromecast!
Once you’ve undergone this troubleshooting check, relapse whether you did see your Chromecast pause the video randomly on another platform.
If not you can encircle the problematic app or a group of apps and draw a conclusion.
Tip: You could check for updates on the application that was pausing your streams!
Solution #2 Connect Devices to the Same WiFi
A discrepancy is caused, whenever your casting device (the smartphone) and the Chromecast are on a different WiFi thread of your network.
Needless to say, that casting is impossible when the two devices are on a different network, they must also be on the same thread as well.
- Check on WiFi Thread if your smartphone is connected before proceeding!
Keep in mind that this solution only applies to users who have a network setup that consists of two WiFi threads.
If you’re only using a 5GHz network or a 2.4GHz, proceed with the next step.
To change your Chromecast’s WiFi:
Simply head to chromecast.com/setup, log in with your account, head to “WiFi” and press “Change WiFi Network”.
Once you’ve selected the network to hook up your Chromecast to the WiFi, insert the password and press “Connect”.
Note: If using 5GHz WiFi, your Chromecast and phone must be close to the router!
Solution #3 Troubleshoot the WiFi Connection!
Perhaps, the Chromecast has run into some connectivity problems that are causing the displayed broadcast to either buffer, lag or randomly pause.
That’s why we’ll go over some simple troubleshooting methods for your network and how to improve its speed.
Follow these instructions to quickly troubleshoot your WiFi Connection:
- Perform a Hard Reset on the Network Device (router or router/modem combo)
- Reconnect the Internet Cable hooked up to your Network Device
- Place the Chromecast closer to the router
- Perform a Reset on the network device (non-factory reset)
Once you’ve applied all of these steps, determine if the WiFi connection seems more stable now.
You should also try to notice if there are any connection-related faults amongst your other devices, connected to the home WiFi network.
Alert: If you’re noticing network issues, contact your ISP and they’ll take care of it.
Solution #4 Update the Casting Device’s OS
If your smartphone is using an older version, the casting feature may be incompatible with your Chromecast software.
Your next step is to update your mobile smartphone’s version to the latest available one to make sure that both of the devices are compatible with each other.
Updating most smartphones today is really simple, so follow these instructions:
- Launch the Settings of your phone.
- Enter the General Tab.
- Navigate to “Firmware Version”.
- Press the “Check for Updates” button.
- Wait for your phone to finish looking for updates.
- Hit the “Apply Now” or “Update” button in order to begin the process.
- Wait for your device to download and install the update.
During the update process, it is likely for your mobile device to either restart or go off temporarily.
This is because it is currently working on its software and it is nothing to worry about. Wait out the update’s full duration and your device will reboot by itself.
Alert: Make sure that your phone has enough storage to apply the update.
Solution #5 Lower the Viewing Quality
If nothing worked so far, perhaps it’s the video quality causing the content and streams on your Chromecast to pause and buffer.
What you should test out in this solution is lowering the resolution quality of the video you’re streaming to check whether this will help!
Here’s how to adjust/lower the quality on most streaming platforms on your Chromecast:
- Launch a platform that you’ll be testing on (Netflix, YouTube, HBO and many more).
- Choose a TV Show or a Movie to start streaming (press the “Play” button).
- Once the show has started, gain access to the Settings Bar.
- Press the Cogwheel in the settings bar (should have “Settings” labelled).
- There, view the different resolution qualities that you’ll be able to choose from.
- Select a Resolution, currently lower than the current.
If for instance, you’re at 1080p Full HD right now, lower the quality to HD (720p) and test the stream.
If pausing occurs even at HD, lower the quality to SD (480p), to determine if the pausing and buffers occur due to the resolution being too high.
Note: Once you’re done testing, revert your resolution back to where it was!
Solution #6 Reset your Chromecast
Although this could sound a little harsh, we would strongly recommend Factory Reset your Chromecast if the problem is still persistent.
This is the optimal way to take care of any software/hardware issues that have developed with Chromecast.
- A Factory Reset is going to erase all data on your Chromecast!
Here’s how to perform a factory reset on your Chromecast in easy steps:
- Make sure your Chromecast is plugged in and functional.
- Locate the small button on the back of the device.
- Press and hold the button of the device for 10-15 seconds.
- Let go of the button once the Chromecast begins to blink in yellow.
- Wait for the reset to undergo.
Once the reset has been triggered and the LED light has begun blinking in yellow, stop touching the Chromecast.
The reset may persist for the upcoming 2-3 minutes and after that, you’ll be shown to the setup screen of the device.
Note: Once the reset has been completed, you’ll have to re-do your Chromecast settings!
Quick Recap:
Thus, to fix when Chromecast keeps pausing without a reason, attempt to stream on a different app/platform and retry the casting process. After that, update your casting device’s firmware, lower the video quality and perform a reset on your Chromecast.
If you’re still having issues with your Chromecast, contact Google for more assistance!
Read Next: How To Fix Chromecast Extension Not Working?
Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.