Fix when a video won't play or gets stuck

This article will help if you are having difficulty getting videos to play, or if they stop partway through streaming. This is an issue which is not related to the ministry or our service, so it is not something we can resolve on your behalf. The good news is, there is plenty which you can do to resolve this yourself and this article will point you in the right direction. 

To watch video produced by this ministry, you need any updated desktop, or mobile device, an internet connection suitable for watching video and a browser with which to view a video online with that internet connection. 

If a video won't start playing in the first place...

This is not something which the ministry has any control over. Let's talk about how you can resolve this yourself.

Troubleshoot by asking yourself some questions...

1. Does the device or computer you are using need a software update? If yes, get it updated.
2. Does the internet browser which you are using need an update, (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc.)? If yes, get it updated.
3. Is your internet turned on and your device connected to it? Make sure you can answer yes to this.
4. If everything is updated and the problem persists, have you tried using a different browser, or a different device to see if you are still having the same problem? It may be that will help you learn what is causing the difficulty. Sometimes a particular new device or browser version can be buggy, but an update can resolve this. It can also be that your updated version is the problem and you need a new update to become available.

*If you're not sure how to check any of these things, try searching Google with something like... "how to check if my [microsoft/apple] computer is up to date", or "how to check if [firefox/chrome] needs updated". This should give you results that are suited to your specific device/computer and/or browser.

If this troubleshooting help does not resolve things for you, firstly read below for further advice and if this does not help, then reach out to your computer tech support, or to a local friend who is tech savvy and able to sit in front of your device with you to troubleshoot together. We wish we could help you with specific device difficulty, but it is not possible for us to give tech support for everyone's specific device or browser needs.

If these recommendations do not resolve things for you, keep reading the full article to consider other troubleshooting options.

If a video stops playing partway through streaming...

This is not something which the ministry has any control over, but you likely have lots of control over it. Let's talk about how you can resolve this.

To explain terms... Videos which are viewed on the internet are "streamed" to you. In other words, they are "downloaded" to you. This is not to be confused with receiving a copy of a file onto your computer. It means data is downloaded to your browser, so you are able to view it online via your internet connection when you are on a page in your browser where that video is embedded.

Videos which stop playing partway through streaming, typically do so only in two different situations: If your device losses connection from your internet suddenly, or if you have internet speed is too slow for video streaming. 

If your internet stops, try opening a new browser tab or window and seeing if you're able to browse without trouble. Also check the internet connection to see if your connection is on and working at full capacity. If this is a problem, reach out to your internet provider to get connection fixed or restored. 

If your internet is connected but the video stopped playing partway through anyway, the problem in this instance is likely that your internet is too slow. To explain... your own internet package cannot receive ("download") the video data as quickly as the video provider (YouTube or Vimeo) is trying to send ("upload") it to you. This causes a stall to occur. The video provider always uploads data to you at a speed which is required for a smooth watching experience. They can do this because they have incredible data centers to ensure this happens for you. So, if you're having a problem then it's almost guaranteed to be on your end. 

If this is regularly an issue, you may need to upgrade your internet speed by contacting your internet provider and asking them for "a speed which is better able to support video streaming". ( More on this in a bit.) Your internet provider will be able to assist you in upgrading your internet speed.

Perhaps though, you're just having a slow speed because too many of your devices across your home have wifi turned on and your internet package is trying to support you in too many places at once. First, try turning off wifi on any devices not in use and see if this helps your internet provider give more attention to the device you want internet speed to be focused on. This can help if you have limited speed. 

Next, you can try this little "hack"... Click/tap the play button of a video you want to watch, then immediately click/tap the pause button. You'll then be able to watch at the bottom, as the loading bar loads in the video data from the play button area. Typically you'll see a grey bar (like in the examples below), start growing from the left as it loads in to the right. The speed of this "hack" is based on your internet speed available to your device. And in some browsers, the download will only come in partially during each pause. It may look like one of these examples...

When the video data has downloaded a while, you'll be able to watch the video up to the point it has loaded the data. This allows your internet to first focus on loading in the video and secondly to then focus on allowing you to watch. Simply click play, then immediately pause, wait until it loads for a while and then you'll be able to play without the internet pausing to get information to your device. Keep in mind this is a hack for slow internet and better internet speed is advised.

Review your internet speed..

If you've tried turning off wifi on devices not in use and you've tried the hack above and you're still having problems, ask yourself if this is typical or unusual. If it is typical, you likely have an internet package which needs to be upgraded for better internet speed. If it is unusual, find out if your internet provider is possibly doing maintenance, or consider the time of day as it is often harder for those in urban areas to get reasonable speeds during times of the day where everyone in the area is more likely to also be using the internet (such as lunch time and early evenings, for example). 

We recommend you have a  minimum internet download speed of 25mbps to stream/watch video produced by this ministry. The more devices you have that are utilizing the internet at the same time, the greater this number needs to be. In our experience, difficulty watching video usually points to a need for better internet download speed.

To test your internet speed where you are, we recommend speedtest.net. There are quite a few ads on the free site (which we have no control over as it is not our site or partner), but the service is accurate and entirely free.

1. Simply visit: https://www.speedtest.net/ and click the "Go" button like you see here.

2. You'll notice it immediately starts testing your download speed.

3. It will then test your upload speed.

4. Finally it will give you your internet speed test results.

For the purpose of this help article, this is what you need to know...

1. "Ping". You can ignore this result, as it does not matter for your situation.
2. "Download". This is your internet download speed. It is the total "Megabites per second" (Mbps) which your internet is able to download to your device browser. This result should be above 25Mbps at a minimum. Somewhere closer to 150Mbps and higher will give you an excellent video streaming experience. If you have a result below 25Mbps it is likely you will have trouble streaming video online with your internet service.
3. "Upload". This figure is only important for "uploading" (aka giving/sharing) information. So, it is not relevant for video streaming.

If none of this article helped you resolve things, contact us with the following...
A. What device you are using (and it's version)
B. What browser you are using (and it's version)
C. What your internet download speed is
D. Communicate that you've already tried the above.