Live video streaming has become massively popular in the past few years worldwide, particularly in Canada. Several niche-specific streaming platforms are offering different types of content. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are reigning the video-on-demand content, while Youtube TV, Hulu Live TV, and Sling TV are considered household names in the Live TV streaming business.
When we talk about sports streaming services, there are plenty of popular platforms in Canada like DAZN and TSN Direct. However, these platforms don’t offer much sporting action from European regions. (savethechimps) If you are a big fan of European football, rugby, motorsports, and other popular leagues, Eurosport is a wonderful platform to consider. However, the problem is that you can’t stream Eurosport in Canada due to geo-restrictions unless you use a premium VPN.
Although live streaming services offer a great watching experience, the quality of the stream depends on several factors. And if you don’t heed these factors, you might encounter some problems while trying to watch your favorite sports content. One of these issues is lag, which can totally ruin your Live entertainment.
To avoid this frustration while trying to enjoy any Live game, we will guide you on how to avoid lag while streaming Live sports in Canada.
What does lag mean? How you can fix it?
In simpler terms, a lag is a brief delay or you can say a pause in the video or audio that you’re streaming. It happens due to different factors, including insufficient bandwidth, slower internet connection, poor downloading speeds, issues with your streaming device, or a problem with the Live streaming platform itself.
There are several ways to fix this annoying issue that we will be discussing briefly. Here are a few tried and tested methods to minimize lag while streaming live sports:
Use your modem directly with an ethernet cable
Wi-Fi networks are a great convenience. However, some limitations are stapled to using the internet over wireless connectivity. It has been found that wireless connections are relatively slow as compared to wired connections.
Lagging in videos often occurs when your internet speed is slower than the bare minimum or you are making your device work harder to fetch the wireless signal. Whenever possible, use a wired connection while streaming.
For that matter, plug the ethernet cable into your device coming directly from the network router or modem. It will definitely boost your internet speed and minimize the lag from your live stream.
Change the video quality of the stream
Live streaming platforms offer different streams in terms of video quality. Usually, live streams come in SD (standard definition) and HD (high definition) qualities. Depending on the speed of your internet, you must choose the quality of the stream wisely.
HD quality requires more bandwidth, and if your internet speed is slow, you might face lag while streaming in high definition. So, it’s always better to switch to a standard definition to minimize the lag.
Close the background apps
You must close all the background apps that are consuming your bandwidth, especially if you are streaming on a smartphone. If you are facing lag while streaming, force quit social media apps, email apps, and auto-updates of mobile apps.
Turn off automatic updates and close extra tabs opened on your internet browser if you are streaming on a PC. This way, you can save your bandwidth leading to a smooth watching experience.
Disconnect inactive devices
Inactive devices connected to your network connection may also lead to slow streaming. You must disconnect all the idle devices that might be consuming your internet bandwidth. Cutting on devices will free up some bandwidth that can improve your streaming quality.
Get a VPN app
VPNs provide a better streaming quality to watch live streams. These apps are becoming a preferred way to stream among binge-watchers. But what other benefits does a VPN offer? Let’s start with the basic and main purpose of a VPN which is masking your IP locations and encrypting any of your personal data.
Now, the question may be rising in your mind; what does hiding location have to do with avoiding lag during live streaming? Well, allowing you to use a random IP address to surf the internet means that you can sit in your home in Canada, but your IP will show that you are in the UK. That may reduce the chances of you facing any geo-restrictions of the content and any ISP blockage.
Restart your network router
Rebooting your internet modem or router is probably the most common solution to remove lag from online streaming. Sometimes the network router starts acting up while running continuously for hours and needs a breather. Restarting the router will also.
Conclusion
To summarize, if you are facing constant lag while streaming live sporting events in Canada, you can try the solutions we have provided in this blog. The most important thing is the speed of your internet connection. For smooth and buffer-free streaming, the internet connection must constantly offer fast speed and be stable.
Secondly, you need to ensure that you are getting the maximum bandwidth. To ensure this, close all the background apps and disconnect idle devices from your network. Restarting the Wi-Fi router or your streaming can also help you solve the lagging issue.
However, if you still face slow streaming speed with constant lag, there might be a problem with the streaming service itself. In that case, contact their tech support and get this issue resolved.
