CBS All Access Keeps Pausing – What to Do?

Want to stream your favorites like NCIS, Star Trek, or The American President? CBS All Access has got you covered. The on-demand and live streaming service has amassed quite an audience since it started competing against services like Netflix and Hulu.

With a massive amount of content to choose from, you can enjoy CBS All Access for thousands of hours. But how much of your experience will be smooth?

While many subscribers don’t have any issues with CBS All Access, some often encounter an annoying problem – frequent lagging and buffering.

Luckily, you might be able to fix this issue pretty easily. But before we get into the solution, let’s see why these lags happen in the first place.

Bothered by Lagging? You’re Not the Only One

Back in 2017, when Star Trek: Discovery debuted, CBS All Access users couldn’t wait to stream the show. Fans of the service’s flagship series rushed to enjoy the latest episode. Sadly, this wasn’t possible for everyone.

As one of CBS’ reps said:

“A small number of CBS All Access users experienced problems with buffering last night due to technical issues with one of our delivery partners. We worked closely with them to resolve the issue.”

Now, this tells us two things. Firstly, that you’re far from the only one suffering from lag issues. And secondly, it’s not CBS’ platform that causes buffering issues, but their content delivery network. And if CDNs are experiencing technical issues, there’s not much that you can do about it.

Still, there can be other reasons why your content keeps pausing. Luckily, each of them has a quick fix.

Check Your Internet Connection

The most common reason for slow streaming is a poor internet connection. And different streaming services have different ways of dealing with it. Some services lower the video quality automatically if your connection isn’t strong enough. Others pause the video until it buffers enough to continue.

In any case, you don’t want to have your favorite movies or shows paused a bunch of times. Nor do you want blurry, pixelated content. The first thing that you should do if this happens is to check your internet speed.

You can use an online speed test or download an app to see how fast your internet is. CBS requires a download speed of at least 3 Mbps for a smooth streaming experience.

If your connection is above this point, and you’re still facing lags, reset your router and try playing the video again. If the reason behind the buffering really is your connection, this should fix the problem.

Restart the Service

If you’re having any trouble with CBS All Access, the good-old restart method should do the trick. After all, there’s a reason why this is the most commonly recommended fix for software bugs and issues. By refreshing the platform, you might deal with the streaming issues in no time.

If you’re using a browser to stream shows, close it by clicking on the red X button. On a PC, you can also use the Alt + F4 shortcut, which is the equivalent of Command + Q on a Mac.

And if you’re using a smartphone app, make sure that it’s not working in the background before you reopen it. On an iPhone X or newer, you can do this by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and pausing halfway. When you see CBS All Access on the list of recent apps, swipe it up to close it. On older iPhones, you can access recently used apps by double-tapping the home button.

If you’re using an Android smartphone, the way to close background apps can depend on the model. For example, new Samsung Galaxy models have a dedicated Recent Apps icon at the bottom-left part of the screen. Tap the icon, and then swipe the CBS’ app up to close it. The same button on other Android devices often looks like a square, and you can use the physical home button if your phone has one.

Once you’ve closed the app, wait for a few moments, and then open it again. If the buffering issue was caused by the problems within the platform, your video should play smoothly after the restart.

Enjoy Your Favorites

CBS is jam-packed with exciting movies and TV shows. There are hours upon hours of content to stream, including some of the world’s most-loved series. By following the steps outlined here, you should be able to enjoy all of them without annoying lags.

As long as there are no issues with CBS’ content delivery network, the above methods should do the trick. And if the problem is beyond your reach, you can always contact CBS for help. Their help team is active on Twitter, and they should be able to assist you.

So, what are you streaming on CBS All Access? Are you encountering any issues? Go ahead and post your thoughts in the comments section below.