Google TV Chromecast buffering watching live sports

[Mtc1020]

I have to dumb-down my TV to 480p in order to watch live sports without buffering.  This is the only TV that's streaming the house and it's in the same room as my router.  New router, new Chromecast and plenty of internet speed.  Any ideas/suggestions?  Higher resolution settings result in about 10-15 seconds of live tv, then a freeze while it buffers. 

[Ridion]

Hi there,

What device are you casting to (what generation Chromecast) and how are you lowering the resolution? It could be an issue with whatever stream you are watching. Does it play fine on your phone or other device connected to the same WiFi and playing from the same website/app?

[Mtc1020]

Hello!

I'm casting to the Chromecast with Google TV (the one with the remote control).  It's less than a year old.

While I'm watching YouTube TV, I hit the down button which pops up a menu along the bottom of the screen.  One of the icons allows me to downgrade the resolution.

I don't have this problem on other apps (Netflix, HBOMax), just with live sports on YouTube TV.

Thanks for the help!

[Jeran]

Hey there,

Just out of curiosity, what results do you get back when you run an internet speed test on Google? I know for 4K content, you need a high-speed internet connection (at least 20 Mbps).

I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know!

Best regards,
Jeran

[Mtc1020]

Thanks for the reply.  The TV is in the same room as the wifi router which I clocked at over 250MB/s.  Again, this only happens for some reason with live sporting events on YouTube TV (NFL, MLB, MLS).  The other streaming services are fine. (Netflix, etc)

[Jeran]

Of course! That's interesting, does the issue occur when using the YouTube TV app on the Chromecast, as well when you cast to the  Chromecast using the YouTube TV app on the phone? If you are able to, it may be worth to test both to see if the issue is constant. If it does buffer when using different devices, it may be an issue on YouTube's end. However, if the buffering occurs only on the Google TV app, I would recommend clearing out the cached data on that app, or even reinstalling it, to see if that helps.

Best regards,

Jeran

[Mtc1020]

I tried casting from my iMac and the lag was even more pronounced.   Could it be my TV?  It's an old Vizio that can only handle 720p

[Ridion]

There are a couple of TV settings that could cause stuttering but if you are having to buffer it definitely sounds like it could be the Chromecast. I would try factory resetting it if clearing the cache doesn't work. I also assume that you don't get this buffering when watching on your iMac and not casting to the Chromecast. It would be good to confirm that.

[Mtc1020]

Hi Ridion,

Thanks for the reply.  I appreciate the help.

You're correct, I can watch live YouTube TV on my iMac with no jitter/buffer.  I have done the factory reset and I even have an open ticket with Google and they've suggested this forum for help.  So I think I'm stuck 

[Jeran]

Heya Mtc1020,

It may be worth it to reach out to Google support over the phone if you have the chance, as they may be able to dig a little deeper into the issue, assuming you haven't already done so. If there is an issue with your Chromecast device that, they should be able to detect it.

Best regards,

Jeran

[Jeran]

Hey there,

Did you have any more questions or need any additional help? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran
 

[Jeran]

Hey there!

We haven't heard back from Mtc1020, and it's been a few days, so I'm locking the thread. As always, feel free to make a new thread if you have any more questions or concerns.

Thank you for your help, Ridion!

Best regards,
Jeran