How to Check If Sling TV is Down and Troubleshoot Issues

Sling TV has been worthy of cord cutter’s movement to all things digital. It’s the #1 live TV streaming services today. An American online television streaming service, Sling TV is owned by the Disk Network. It has rapidly grown in both user base and popularity ever since it was first launched in January of 2015.

With anything digital, minor setbacks or bumps are natural. Sling TV is no exception to that. There are various reasons why your Sling TV might be freezing.

I am here to help you troubleshoot issues and errors you’re having with your streams and find that buffering fix you’re looking for. Here are the steps to take.

down to sling

While service down is one of the most uncommon issues, you should check whether the Sling service is down before you go any further into troubleshooting your Sling TV device. The reason being it’s easier to check whether the service is down.

Simply look upon any website providing information like Down Detector, which logs the service status of all online services. If you want to know whether others are facing the same issue, you can check the user complains of service down in the last 24 hours.

Check to see if Sling TV is down

The first thing you should do is visit downdetector.com and check to see if Sling has an outage. If Sling TV is indeed down or outage, you’ll see people reporting it from all over the country or a particular region.

Check your Sling TV wifi and/or internet connection

The second thing you must always do is check your internet connection regularly, especially if you’re on wifi. Is your streaming device getting an adequate signal? You might say hey, I have internet elsewhere so Sling should be working. Not necessarily. You need to check it on the device you’re streaming on.

For Roku devices, go to Settings -> network connection and make sure that the internet is getting data. Sometimes on Roku players, you’ve got to refresh and reconnect the wifi connection every once in a while. For mobile or tablets, go to your wifi settings, disconnect and reconnect to your existing wifi to make sure you’re getting a fresh signal. If you’re not getting the internet connection to your device, then there’s something wrong with your router or your device’s wifi setup.

If your internet connection is okay and Sling is still loading or constantly buffering, you require to check your internet speed on your streaming device. For instance, on Roku, you can check the speed of the stream by going to Sling’s Settings -> Connection. On iOS, you’ll be able to head to Sling’s Settings -> Connection and check the “Show streaming speed during video” box. Look at your “Current bandwidth” measurement. If your streaming speed is under 1.0 Mbps, then you have a problem with your devices’ wifi connection or your router speed is not fast enough.

Keep in mind that

 Just because you’re Wifi router/modem specs are up-to-par, doesn’t mean you’re getting enough internet speed in the real world. You can run a speed test on your computer or mobile device by going to Google’s free internet speed test tool just to make sure you are getting enough bandwidth over wifi. You should upgrade your router if you have a router older than five years old.

Restart Sling

This is the simplest trick of them all. You know when you go to IT for help, they always tell you to restart it first. Well, in most cases, it works. Freezing and buffering problems are most likely caused by either Sling TV server issues or your internet and wifi connection problems. So if Sling is not down, and you are getting streams of over 1.0 Mbps, then you should have no issues with your stream. Now occasional freezing or buffering will still happen from time to time, but restarting Sling must fix temporary streaming hiccups. Close the Sling app and then relaunch it.

Amazon Fire TV cache issue

Some users might be experiencing freezing problems on their Fire TV devices. Start by going to Settings. Find your application’s icon and open it. Then, click on Manage Applications to find the Sling TV app. Choose “Clear cache” and “clear data.” That must resolve Sling from not loading.

ESPN issues

ESPN streams have always been problematic. It’s no different on Sling TV. Streams will sometimes become rough or not load at all. I don’t know exactly if it’s a problem with Sling or ESPN. Chances are it’s a combination of Sling and ESPN, not giving enough bandwidth. This is especially evident on game days were a lot more users are logging in at the same time to stream live games. The best result comes from using the Watch ESPN app on your streaming devices by authenticating using your Sling account. Seems like ESPN will give more bandwidth to their channels.

Sling down or outage issue

Before troubleshooting your Sling TV, check whether it has happened due to service issues or outages. Just look upon any site offering details like Down Detector that logs the service status of every online service. You can check the users’ complains of service down in the last 24 hours to know whether others are experiencing a similar problem. Otherwise, avail the Sling tech support to resolve this problem.

Tips to fix buffering on Sling Tv.

Tip #1: Run a Speed Test

It is not uncommon to not get the speed you pay for. Sometimes your ISP can have damage on their lines running to your house, so run a speed test to ensure you are getting the speed you are paying for.

Tip #2: Buy a Range Extender

Weak Wi-Fi is a common problem that causes buffering. A weak Wi-Fi signal can cause slow speeds and buffer. If you have weak Wi-Fi by your streaming devices getting a range extender or buying a whole home wifi network like the Google WiFi system is an easy fix this problem as it helps fill weak spots in your house to give you the best speed possible. How does Sling TV work information is hare.

#3 Update or Replace Your Router

If your WiFi keeps dropping or you are still having Wi-Fi issues in one part of your house, consider looking into getting a new router that has a Wi-Fi AC standard. You’ll see a huge improvement going to AC from the old N standard. It’s not unusual for routers to go bad. Just like phones and PC’s at some point routers do break down.

Also if you have an older or cheaper WiFi router it may not be designed to handle all the devices on your network. Not all routers are made to handle the same load. Some max out at about 10-15 devices.