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My smart TV from Vizio has been a great partner during my free time after a long day at work, and I almost exclusively use it to watch content from Netflix and Hulu.
As of late, the TV had been showing signs of a slowdown, but not somewhere that you would usually expect from an aging TV.
The connection speeds were slowing down, and as a result, Netflix was buffering way too many times for my liking.
This wasn’t the case for my other devices, though, and the speeds looked pretty much unchanged from what I usually get.
I had to find out the source of the slowdowns and figure out a fix for it as soon as possible.
I went down to Vizio’s support pages and looked at a few forum posts and technical articles to gain some insight into how a smart TV handles its internet connection.
After I got my speeds on the TV fixed, I was sitting on a pretty large pile of information, which I decided to make better use of by making a guide.
This guide should help you figure out why your Vizio TV’s internet is slowing down and get it fixed pretty much in seconds.
Your Vizio TV internet might have been slow because of either your network connection or your TV. You can try restarting your router and resetting your TV to fix the issue.
Read on to find out when you should upgrade your internet plans if these slowdowns are consistent for you across multiple devices.
Check Your Cables
For any internet speed issues, the first thing you’ll need to check is the cables that are connected to your router.
Check the ethernet cables that your router uses and their end connectors.
The end connectors of the ethernet ports are the most prone to damage, especially the plastic clip that holds the cable in position when connected to the port.
If the clip is broken, replace the cable with metal end connectors like the DbillionDa Cat 8 ethernet cable.
It’s faster than your regular ethernet cables as well and can futureproof your internet for faster speeds.
Check For Local Outages
Local outages may not completely cut you off from your ISP’s network but can severely throttle your performance when you try to use the internet.
The best way to determine if your ISP is experiencing an outage is to contact their customer support directly over the phone.
Some ISPs offer an outage check tool, and if yours do, check the tool and see if there’s an outage in your area.
They can let you know how long it would take to fix the outage, so be prepared to wait until they do.
Stop Bandwidth Heavy Apps
If your internet slows down, there can be a few reasons, but one of the first things that come to mind is that the TV might not be getting the bandwidth it needs.
This can happen if any device on your network or an app on the Vizio TV uses up a lot of bandwidth.
Turn off that Netflix download if you were downloading that entire season of the TV show that you’ve been wanting to watch.
Downloads take up a lot of bandwidth on your network and can make the internet connection feel sluggish and slow.
Close any apps that usually use a lot of bandwidth on your computer and phone as well.
Try checking the TV again and see if the internet speeds up.
Restart Your TV
Issues with your TV’s software can also cause slowdowns when you use online apps or play online content.
The easiest way to fix issues like this is to restart your TV.
You can do this by following the steps below:
- Turn the TV off.
- Unplug the TV from the wall.
- Wait for at least a minute before you plug the TV back in.
- Turn the TV on.
Alternatively, some Vizio TVs allow you to restart the TV from the menus, which you can try as well if the method I’ve described above doesn’t work.
Check if the internet speeds come back to normal after restarting the TV.
Reset Your Vizio TV
Restarting has a chance of fixing the issue, but if it doesn’t, you can perform afactory reset of your Vizio TV.
To do this:
- Open theMenuof the TV.
- Navigate toSystemand press OK.
- Go toReset and Adminand press OK.
- ChooseReset TV to Factory Defaultsand press OK.
- Enter the code that should be 0000 by default if you haven’t set a parental control PIN.
- Select Reset and press OK.
- The TV will now begin resetting.
After the TV finishes resetting, it will then restart.
Install the apps that you use and connect the TV to your Wi-Fi network again.
Check if the speeds have gone back to normal.
Restart Your Router
If working on the TV doesn’t seem to fix the internet slowdowns, you might need to look at your internet router.
Try restarting it and see if the issue fixes itself.
To do this:
- Turn the router off.
- Unplug its power adapter from the wall.
- Wait for at least a minute before you plug it back in.
- Turn the router back on.
When the router finishes restarting, check if the speeds are restored, and everything works on the Vizio TV.
Reset Your Router
If a restart doesn’t work, you might need to reset the router.
A factory reset will wipe the network configuration and the custom settings that you might have set with the router.
After the reset, you will need to reconfigure the router with your own custom settings once again.
Most routers have a reset button on the back of the router that looks like a pinhole and would be labeled reset.
Press and hold this button for at least 30 seconds to reset your router.
For the exact steps to reset your method, you’ll have to refer to the user manual for your router.
After resetting the router, reconfigure the router and connect your TV to the network.
Check if the speeds have come back to normal in all the apps on the TV.
Contact Support
If none of these troubleshooting steps works out for you, or if you need a professional to take a look at the TV, feel free to contact Vizio support.
They will be able to look at your TV and better diagnose the issue.
Contact your ISP as well and let them know if you’ve been experiencing slow internet on all of your devices.
Final Thoughts
If you watch a lot of high-quality content on your Vizio TV, especially at 4K, the slowdowns you may be experiencing can be attributed to a slower internet connection.
Cheaper plans have slower speeds, so upgrade your plan if you need to.
If you’re looking to switch ISPs, Xfinity is a great option with theirBlast series of plans.
They are Xfinity’s higher-end offerings and have speeds that start from 200 Mbps, which is enough for 99% of use cases.
You May Also Enjoy Reading
- How To Connect Vizio TV To Wi-Fi In Seconds
- How To Get An Internet Browser On Vizio TV: Easy Guide
- Best Universal Remote Controls For Vizio Smart TVs
- Vizio TV Channels Missing: How to Fix
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check my Internet speed on my Vizio TV?
To run a speed test on your Vizio TV:
- Press the menu button on the remote.
- ChooseNetwork>Network TestorTest Connection.
Do Vizio smart TVs need updates?
Vizio TVs will let you know a software update whenever it becomes available.
Firmware updates are installed automatically when the TV is powered off.
Where is the V button on my Vizio remote?
The V button on your remote will be on the center of the remote.
What is Eco mode on Vizio TV?
Eco mode on your Vizio TV reduces the power the TV consumes when used.
The TV goes into a lower power state when it is not being used for a particular period of time.
