Buffering

[DarrenG_2286680]

Morning I use my internet on my phone for my firestick and was paying last services provider £35 a month for unlimited data      calls and text.  I moved over to smarty last month  to save money     However since I have swapped I now get a lot of buffering and black screen I end up pulling my hair out as it is so frustrating. I never got this with giff gaff.  It says  my internet is slow and I need to speak to my internet service provider.    So smarty can this problem be sorted or I will be going back to giff gaff     This is a bit rubbish and I keep getting emails to rate smarty we’ll so far smarty your a bad let down especially this day and age so can this problem be solved if not it’s bye bye smarty.   

[Bernade_2208625]

I have the same problem. My data use has increased as a result. I didn’t have this before 

[SmartyTrousers]

@Bernade_2208625 How could a slow connection speed result in higher data use? If anything, it should result in lower data use.

[Linsey]

Hi @SmartyTrousers 

A slow internet connection can sometimes use more data because it struggles to load things efficiently. It may lose parts of files and have to download them again, making streaming or browsing take longer and use extra data.

Apps and websites might also keep retrying when they fail to load. Plus, background updates or syncing take more time, keeping your device using data for longer. So while you’d expect slow speeds to use less data, the extra effort to load things can actually make it use more.

I hope this helps. 

[SmartyTrousers]

@Linsey I agree that a slower speed means you are using data for a longer amount of time, but that does not equate to more data being used. A 500MB file uses 500MB to download, whether you’re on a fast connection that can do it in 10 seconds or a slow one that takes 10 hours to do it.

If a connection is so slow that files time out and have to be started again, I’d call that intermittent rather than just slow.

[JodieC]

Hi @DarrenG_2286680 

Thank you for reaching out on our SMARTY community platform! 

I am sorry to hear about your connection issues. 

It may be that you need to use our network status checker to see if there's outages in your area that may be affecting your connectivity, please see here: Network status checker | SMARTY

You can also reset your network settings to see if this helps enhance your connection, although it is not a guarantee. 

If you haven’t already done so, you could try the following to potentially regain a connection;

• Restarting your device and/or resetting your Network Settings (this does not affect your device storage, apps, pictures, etc.). This will refresh your connection to the serving site, prompting a stronger signal.
• Toggling Airplane Mode/Mobile Data off and on. This essentially resets the IP connection, establishing a fresh new connection once linked to the network – this will prompt your device and SIM to connect to a stronger signal.
• You can remove any saved APN credentials, restart your handset and then re-add the required APN if your device doesn’t seem to automatically connect to a strong network signal – please find guidance on the correct APN set-up via the following link: https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/1155220-using-the-internet-after-you-ve-joined-smarty.

I hope this helps! If not, please contact our webchat team for further assistance:

https://smarty.co.uk/contact