2024 Mac mini repeatedly buffers while streaming video

Rikyuser wrote:

Browser: chrome or safari. Up to date iOS.

Is this your iPhone or your computer? iOS is for iPhones. macOS is for computers. While this may seem to be nitpicking here, little mistakes like this make it hard to know what else may be written incorrectly & making us believe one thing, yet you mean another. At least with this we have a bit of a chance of realizing you most likely meant macOS.

speed test 3 MHS

What is "MHS"? Never heard that speed rating before. Again, you must be careful how you write the speeds because "MB/s" is completely different than "Mb/s".....notice the upper & lower case "B" and "b" characters?

(thru ookla, no options to type anything in terminal window!)

The Terminal window @Jack-19 mentions has nothing to do with "ookla" speed tests.

If you mean you launched the Terminal app and could not type the command suggested by @Jack-19.....then that is a huge problem because nothing should prevent you from being able to type in the Terminal app, nor should anything prevent that command from running. If you cannot type into the Terminal window at the command prompt, then it means you have something very wrong with your macOS installation which is also probably why you are having streaming issues.

The mystery is why streaming works on old laptop with same connections and not the new Mac mini.

Thanks for all suggestions

Please run and post a complete EtreCheck report here as I suggested previously so we can examine it for possible clues. This is more important than ever if you cannot type in the Terminal app window. I don't think anyone can help you until we see this report.

Give us the specs on your Mini, i.e. amount of RAM, storage/free space, system version and which processor you have.

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac?

Hey there -

What browser are you using to stream video? Typically, Safari on Mac offers the best streaming performance. Also, check that macOS is up to date: Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support.

Also, it might be beneficial to run an internet speed test on your Mac mini to see how fast your connection is. There are a variety of websites that offer this service, and your Mac can also do using Terminal:

1. In the Finder, choose Go > Utilities, then double-click the Terminal icon. (Terminal is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.) Alternatively, click Launchpad or Apps in the Dock, type Terminal in the search field, then click the Terminal icon.
2. In Terminal, type the following command:

networkQuality

Terminal will then output your internet speed:

-Jack

If WiFi, are you using 2.4GHz or 5GHz and how strong is the signal? 5GHz is faster but it's also weaker. 2.4GHz is generally stronger but is more prone to channel/bandwidth contention. Both conditions can lead to buffering.

That said, if there are no issues when using YouTube but there are with Hoopla & Kanopy that suggests the problem is with the video services; check what each service supports/requires.

You may want to run the third party app EtreCheck and post the complete report here so we can examine it for possible clues.

How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting an EtreCheck Report - Apple Community

Jack-19 wrote:

2. In Terminal, type the following command:

networkQuality

Terminal will then output your internet speed:

Learned something new again.....I never knew that command existed. Very nice.