I’ve been having LOVEFiLM buffering problems for some time now. This only started when we changed broadband provider, so I’m tempted to say that it’s Virgin’s traffic shaping that is causing the issues. Anyway, I’m not writing to moan about that, I don’t know exactly what has caused the problem so I’m not pointing my finger at anyone.
When in full screen mode, I get LOVEFiLM constantly buffering every minute or so, for 2-5 seconds. This can get pretty annoying. It struck me that there was a pretty strong chance that in normal mode (with the video playing on the page it first loads on, i.e. not in full screen) it was a lower quality stream. This seems to hold true, since it never buffers for me at this size. Now, this isn’t perfect, it’s a workaround rather than a fix, but try the following if you are experiencing similar buffering issues with LOVEFiLM:
- Put the browser into full-screen (usually F11)
- Get the zoom right (usually using Ctrl and +/-)
- Scroll the window optimally using cursors or mouse
There you have it, a pseudo-full screen view that is pretty low quality, but in all my tests across Linux/Mac/Windows seems to do the trick and avoids all buffering problems…
Let me know how you get on.
EDIT: Ben (see comments) reports an even better answer to LOVEFiLM buffering problems:
“Just tried this and it helps, but after a bit more tinkering I tried the popout version of the player. Made that full screen and removed the navigation toolbar. No need to zoom, full screen and no buffering!! (It also seem better quality)”
Cheers Ben!
Just wanted to thank you for posting this. My Lovefilm streaming was driving me crazy and this solved it. Back to happy viewing. Bring on optic fibre I suppose.
jane
No problem, glad it helped! 🙂
Brilliant idea and a huge help!
Thanks dude!
No worries, glad to be of help 🙂
Just tried this and it helps, but after a bit more tinkering I tried the popout version of the player. Made that full screen and removed the navigation toolbar. No need to zoom, full screen and no buffering!! (It also seem better quality)
Nice! Thanks Ben, will signpost this in the article 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you! Was on the verge of cancelling my subscription. Merry Christmas! 🙂
Most welcome, have a great Christmas! 🙂
Unfortunately I am going to cancel my subscription as I don’t believe it is down to internet providers for bad service. I also use Netflix and do not suffer any buffering issues when I run two laptops two samsung notebooks and an ipad – ONLY lovefilm buffers on my laptop and also the notebooks when viewing in web mode as they don’t support samsung via app yet.
I am sorry to see it go as it does provide alternate content to Netflix but the frustration it causes cannot be ignored – BUFFERING is extremely annoying and can cause stress especially for a paid service. This occurs on Virgin SKY and BT so it is AMAZON that are not streaming correctly and therefore until they actually provide a stress free service like Netflix then I am sadly left with no alternative but to cancel any subscription as the money doesn’t seem to be invested in user experience.
Totally understand your viewpoint. If it’s still going on then it definitely raises questions over their online platform as a whole.
When I wrote the article, I was paying mainly for the DVD rental, so fixing the Instant element was a bonus. Oddly, I am no longer getting buffering problems with LOVEFiLM, and have since given up the DVD rental in favour of just the Instant bit for the slight variety vs Netflix. If Instant starts to get flaky again then it will be getting the same treatment from me!
All the best.
Having experiencing problems with Lovefilm I had decided to cancel my subscription with them, it didn’t used to be this bad before though… (Cancelled before due to not a lot of movies), but now… seems a lot worse than before.
Id rather stick with Netflix, with the waiting 1 – 2 minutes start up buff rather then constant interruption.
I had contacted Lovefilm about this too, and all they provided was the default “automated” things on what to do in this occasion, which I didn’t bother to do as its just common sense to what to do if it was that situation.