Spotify Buffering while playing music (with fast internet connection)

[MunzaK]

Plan

Premium

Country

South Africa

Operating System

Windows 10 (Spotify Web on Google Chrome)

My Question or Issue

Hi there, I have been struggling with issue where music will randomly buffer as if I'm on a slow internet connection meanwhile that is not the case (see attached image of internet speeds). I use Spotify web on my company PC to listen to music while doing work and I can't download the desktop application. I tested on my phone (same WiFi connection) and music plays fine with no interruptions or buffering. I did try on my personal laptop using the desktop application and I am still experiencing the same issue 😞 . YouTube and other streaming service work perfectly fine with no buffering as well so not sure why this is happening

I have tried clearing cookies on my web browser and restarting my pc but to no avail. Is anyone else experiencing this? Are there any solutions? Any help is appreciated please.

[Dian]

Hey @MunzaK,

Thanks for posting in the Community.

Does your company PC use a VPN to connect to the internet?

Are you able to connect to a different network with your personal device, e.g. a hot spot from your phone and test this again?

Keep us posted.

Cheers!

[MunzaK]

Hi Dian,

Thank you for your response to this matter, my company PC doesn't use a VPN to connect to the internet. I tested this again, using the mobile hotspot from my phone to my personal laptop and there was no buffering during the test on both the web and desktop applications however when I tested on my work laptop using mobile hotspot there was still a lot of buffering.

On WiFi both applications and laptops are still buffering

[Dian]

Hey @MunzaK,

Thanks for the reply.

We have then found the culprit - it's the internet connection and the work laptop itself. We'd recommend you investigating the WiFi setup and maybe resetting the router and getting in touch with your company's IT department for further insights as to why the company laptop behaves this way.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

[MunzaK]

Hi Dian,

Thanks for the response, I am still having the WiFi issue with my personal laptop still - is there any way I could troubleshoot this from a personal perspective?

Thanks

[AlejaR]

Hey @MunzaK,

Thanks for your reply.

In this case, we'd recommend checking if the Google Chrome browser is up-to-date. To do this, you can open your browser, go to the three-do menu at the right top of the screen> Help> About Google Chrome. Once you're there, Chrome will look for updates. If there's any available, you should see a relaunch button.

On another note, would you mind checking if you can replicate this behavior on a different browser? Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

Lastly, since you have the desktop app installed on your personal laptop, you might need to check for any local settings on your device that could be blocking the app. In case there's an antivirus software or such that could be restricting access to the app, try whitelisting Spotify. 
 

Keep us in the loop!

[MunzaK]

Hi Aleja, thank you for your response

Tried to stream music using Spotify web on Mircrosoft Edge and I'm still getting the same issue :(. Oddly enough, the desktop application seems to be playing with no buffering during my tests so that's a positive.

I tested again on Google Chrome after updating it and I'm still experiencing the same issue (the issue was even worse). I also tested again after checking that my antivirus was not blocking Spotify to no avail.

[Lyubka]

Hey @MunzaK,

Thanks for getting back to us and for the troubleshooting you've tried so far.

This seems a bit odd. We'd recommend that you check if you have an ad-blocking software running on your laptop and turn it off. 

If you're still experiencing this on the web app, we'd suggest that you try updating your sound drivers to see if that will helps. Read more about how to do it here.

Let us know how it goes. We'll be keeping an eye out for you reply.

[stevecorno]

Hi there,

I have the same issue on a personal Macbook Pro M1. I originally thought it may be a wifi issue, but I'm now connected on ethernet with 400mbps test bandwidth..

I do not have the buffering issue when casting from my phone..

Cheers

Steve

[Vasil]

Hey @stevecorno,

Thanks for letting us know!

To check if this is related to an internet connection setting, could you try using a hotspot as well?
We'd also like to know if this happens with the desktop app or the web player. 
Tip: In case the issue is present on the web player, I'd check if clearing your cached data or running a private browser session would make a difference.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply 🙂

P.S. In case nothing helps, please take a look at the abovementioned suggestions by @Dian and @Lyubka and let us know how things have gone.
Much appreciated!

[Helvegen]

Hi, Currently dealing with this issue on windows through web player. I do not experience the "pauses"(it continues to play but seems to need a buffer) on my phone. Seems to be worse when I'm using other programs however I have a machine that can more than adequately handle these tasks.

[Helvegen]

Edit: I disabled ad blockers and made sure drivers were utd. Still happening.

[AdityaPv]

Hi!

I am using Spotify on Amazon Fire stick. It buffers while playing almost as if internet is slow (very similar to the old days of youtube with the grey line and red line meeting - video stutters). I have cleared cache, reinstalled app, changed network. Issue comes and goes. This issue isn't a default but happens every now and then. 

Every other streaming works absolutely fine in all devices. 

[Ivelina]

Hey @AdityaPv,

Welcome to the thread and thanks for sharing what steps you've already tried!

As you mentioned that the issue comes and goes, can you let us know if you've noticed in case this occurs after something specific? 

Another thing that comes to mind is to change the DNS settings of your router to 8.8.8.8. We've noticed that this has helped in some situations where there's been connectivity issues with Spotify.

Keep us posted.

[Helvegen]

Hello! It seems I have no issues when streaming through the desktop app. I
was using spotify through the browser which was my streaming method for
years. Thank you.

[Ivelina]

Hey @Helvegen,

Thank you for clarifying this. Could you also try changing the DNS settings of your router as suggested here? 

Since this behavior persists in the Web Player for you, something else that comes to mind is to clear the hosts file and you can check out the info here.

Keep us updated!