Kodi is open-source software that makes it easy to set up your own home theater system. It’s highly versatile and can be installed on various platforms, including PC. Find out whether Kodi, your internet connection, your build, or your device is the problem.
Today, we’ll show you how to figure out what’s causing your problem and how to fix it. Hopefully, this will restore Kodi to the fast, responsive media center it was always meant to be. And will solve the Kodi buffering issues.
Step one: testing your internet connection
Kodi can be installed on a PC, Amazon Fire TV, Firestick, Android, iPhone, Roku, Raspberry Pi, Apple TV, and even USB flash drives.
If Kodi frequently pauses video streams to buffer or only plays at low resolutions, the problem is most likely with your internet connection or the service you’re attempting to stream from. Here’s how to determine which of these is the culprit:
Examining your internet connection speeds
Take a look at your home’s average upload and download speeds. If they are lower than what your internet service provider promises, try using a wired connection or moving closer to the router to see if they improve.
The router must be restarted
Next, we’ll do a quick fix that solves a wide range of internet connectivity issues: turn off your router, wait a few minutes, and then turn it back on. This removes any errors or conflicts that may have occurred and essentially allows you to start over.
Check that your streaming service is operational
Still, having problems? Attempt to watch content from a different source. If Netflix works perfectly but Sling TV does not, it is possible that Netflix is experiencing an outage or performing maintenance. If both providers load slowly, your ISP may be experiencing a service disruption or a hardware issue, which they can address if our other fixes fail.
Using a VPN to circumvent ISP throttling
Many ISPs purposefully limit their customers’ network speeds. They do this to discourage people from streaming, whether or not they are using official sources. All of your traffic is encrypted when you use a Virtual Private Network. This prevents your ISP from tracking your activities and can prevent the endless buffering that occurs when trying to stream video over a slow connection.
NordVPN comes highly recommended. This provider offers first-rate speed and a plethora of security options, as well as a no-logs policy that has been double-verified. With over 5,000 servers available around the world, accessing your favorite services is simple, even when traveling abroad.
Step two: Identifying Kodi configuration issues
Despite the fact that Kodi can be installed on a variety of platforms, not every device on each platform has the same specifications. Some Android phones, for example, are less powerful than others, with less memory and system resources. If your buffer size is too large or your cache size is too small, your device will experience a significant slowdown. Fortunately, there is a way to optimize Kodi’s settings to better suit your device’s hardware.
Here’s how to accelerate Kodi installation:
Setting up Kodi on your device
First, you must install a maintenance addon. Following that, we’ll go over a series of minor tweaks that should help optimize our system and reduce performance issues.
Kodi’s cache must be cleared.
A cache is a collection of data that has been stored on your computer for easy access.
When you regularly stream video through Kodi, a cache of data is created on your computer. That cache can fill up quickly, causing buffering issues and other slowdowns in your Kodi app. Here’s a step-by-step guide to clearing Kodi’s cache:
- Launch your preferred maintenance addon.
- Look for a menu with the words “Cleaning,” “Maintenance,” or something similar.
- Click Clear the cache
Remove any addons that are no longer functional
Kodi addons are frequently renamed, and many older ones are incompatible with Kodi 19 and above due to recent changes to the way Kodi works. Sometimes a single broken addon can cause a cascade of larger errors that are much more difficult to diagnose. At best, this will solve your speed issues; at worst, it will free up some space.
Remove any custom builds
We know what you’re thinking: some Kodi builds look fantastic. However, these graphical enhancements may come at the expense of system performance, which is crucial for a streaming machine.
Unfortunately, the quickest way to uninstall a build is to restart from scratch. Simply go to Maintenance > Cleaning tools and select Fresh start if you have OpenWizard installed.
Conclusion
There could be several reasons why Kodi is running slowly for you. The good news is that Kodi has very low system requirements because it is designed to run on so many devices. This means you should never have to upgrade your system in order to use Kodi. Instead, the issues are likely to be much easier to resolve. By following the steps outlined above, you should be able to resolve any Kodi slowdown issues and return to watching content the way it was intended: in the highest possible quality, with no stuttering.