LinkedIn Learning is a popular online learning platform that allows users to take courses on a wide variety of professional topics. However, many users have reported issues with LinkedIn Learning buffering or lagging while trying to watch video courses. There are several potential reasons why you might experience buffering or lag on LinkedIn Learning.
Internet Connection Issues
The most common reason LinkedIn Learning buffers is problems with your internet connection. Streaming high-quality video requires a fast, stable broadband connection. If you’re experiencing frequent buffering, here are some things to check:
- Internet speed – Use a tool like Speedtest.net to test your download and upload speeds. You’ll want at least 3-5 Mbps download speed for streaming video without disruption.
- WiFi signal strength – If you’re connected over WiFi, make sure you have at least 2-3 bars of signal strength. Move closer to your router or access point if the signal is weak.
- Bandwidth throttling – Some internet service providers throttle or limit bandwidth usage during peak hours. This can lead to slowed speeds.
- Multiple devices – Having many devices connected to your home network can congest your bandwidth and cause buffering issues.
- VPN usage – Connecting through a VPN adds extra overhead that can slow your connection.
If you’re experiencing frequent buffering, try disconnecting other devices from your network or upgrading to a faster internet plan. This will ensure you have enough bandwidth to stream courses without disruption.
LinkedIn Learning Server Issues
While less common, it’s possible the buffering issues are on LinkedIn Learning’s end. Like any web service, LinkedIn Learning can sometimes experience server outages or technical glitches that disrupt video streaming across the platform. Usually these problems are temporary. Check LinkedIn Learning’s status page or social media feeds to see if others are reporting widespread technical issues. If it seems to be a platform-wide problem, just wait it out until LinkedIn Learning resolves the outage.
Computer Performance Issues
Your computer’s performance can also impact streaming quality. Playing high-quality HD video requires substantial processing power, RAM, and graphics capability. If your computer is outdated or underpowered, you may experience choppy playback and buffering even if your internet speed is sufficient. Upgrading to a computer with a faster processor, more RAM and a dedicated graphics card can help. Also make sure you don’t have other demanding applications like video games running in the background that could be using up RAM and CPU cycles.
Browser and Plugin Conflicts
LinkedIn Learning is designed to work best on modern web browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Using outdated browsers can sometimes cause performance and compatibility issues that disrupt streaming. Make sure you have the latest version of your web browser installed.
Additionally, browser extensions and plugins like ad blockers, VPNs and privacy extensions can sometimes conflict with video streaming on sites like LinkedIn Learning. Try disabling any plugins and switching to a fresh browser profile without extensions to see if that fixes buffering problems.
Video Playback Settings
LinkedIn Learning allows you to manually adjust video resolution and quality settings in the app settings. By default, it will automatically adjust based on your connection. But sometimes manually lowering resolution can help if you’re experiencing frequent buffering at higher qualities. You can try setting playback to a lower resolution like 720p or 480p to see if that provides a smoother streaming experience.
Just keep in mind, lowering video quality means you’ll lose some sharpness and detail in the courses. It’s best to address potential bandwidth and computer performance issues first before resorting to lowering playback quality.
LinkedIn Learning App Issues
The LinkedIn Learning mobile apps and desktop apps sometimes have bugs that can interfere with video performance too. Make sure you have installed the latest updated versions of the iOS, Android or desktop apps. If you’re still seeing issues, try accessing LinkedIn Learning directly through the web browser interface at www.linkedin.com/learning. The web experience is typically more stable.
Uninstalling and re-installing the apps can also help resolve software conflicts that may be disrupting video buffering. Make sure to fully close out of the app before re-installing.
Account and Payment Problems
In rare cases, buffering issues stem from problems with your LinkedIn Learning account rather than technical issues. If your payment information expired, or your account is in disabled status, LinkedIn Learning may intentionally throttle your video quality. Check to make sure your LinkedIn Learning subscription is active and your payment information is up to date. Buffering is sometimes used to encourage users to update their account.
Contact LinkedIn Learning Support
If you’ve tried all the usual troubleshooting tips and LinkedIn Learning is still buffering frequently, your best bet is to contact customer support. The LinkedIn Learning support team can look into your account and provide personalized troubleshooting to identify the root cause.
Here are some tips on reaching out to customer support:
- Chat support – Initiate a live chat through the LinkedIn Learning website. Chat is the fastest way to get help.
- Phone support – LinkedIn Learning’s phone number is 855-200-4164. You may have to wait on hold but can get dedicated 1-on-1 troubleshooting.
- Email support – Send an email to [email protected] explaining the buffering issues.
- Social media – Tweet @LinkedInLearning for help from the Twitter account.
The LinkedIn Learning support team has additional diagnostics tools they can use to pinpoint what’s causing frequent buffering for your account. They can check your video streaming quality metrics and identify potential infrastructure issues. With personalized help, you’re much more likely to resolve persistent buffering problems.
Test Streaming With Other Services
A good way to narrow down the cause of frequent buffering is to test streaming on other video platforms. For example, try playing videos on YouTube, Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime Video.
- If those other services play smoothly without buffering, the issue is likely specific to LinkedIn Learning’s platform. Contact their support team.
- However, if you see buffering and lag across multiple streaming services, that points to a problem with your local network, computer resources, or internet capabilities. Address those issues first.
Testing other video platforms that use adaptive bitrate streaming similar to LinkedIn Learning gives you another data point to identify the root cause.
Upgrade Your Internet Connection
While not always necessary, upgrading your home internet connection is one of the most reliable ways to resolve persistent buffering issues across streaming video platforms.
If your internet plan is only 10-25 Mbps, the fastest way to improve LinkedIn Learning streaming is getting a plan with download speeds of at least 50-100 Mbps. Higher internet speeds leaves ample bandwidth overhead for smooth HD streaming.
Here are ways you can upgrade your home internet connection:
- Contact your provider – Your current cable or DSL provider likely offers faster internet packages. But they come at a higher monthly cost.
- Switch providers – Research competing providers in your area that may offer faster internet at a competitive rate.
- Replace old cables – Using outdated coaxial cables can bottleneck your speed. Replacing the cable from street to home can boost performance.
- Upgrade modem/router – Make sure your modem and WiFi router are compatible with higher speed plans and have enough processing capacity.
- Ethernet over WiFi – For the fastest streaming, connect your computer directly to the router with an Ethernet cable instead of using wireless.
Improving your home internet infrastructure is the most foolproof way to boost LinkedIn Learning video streaming reliability. But it’s an investment to consider the costs and tradeoffs.
Modify LinkedIn Learning Video Settings
The LinkedIn Learning platform provides several video settings you can adjust in an attempt to reduce buffering:
- Reduce video quality – Lower resolution to 480p or 720p.
- Disable auto-play – Stop videos from playing automatically to prevent bandwidth spikes.
- Data usage limits – Configure a monthly mobile data limit to conserve bandwidth.
- Download for offline – Download courses for offline playback to avoid dynamic streaming.
Keep in mind, tweaking these settings involves some tradeoffs. Limiting video resolution or disabling auto-play leads to a less seamless user experience. But modifying settings is still worth testing to see if it provides any buffering relief.
Adjust Computer Settings to Optimize for Video
You can also adjust your computer settings to free up system resources for smoother video streaming:
- Close other programs – Shut down any other applications using RAM and CPU cycles in the background.
- Disable VPN – VPNs add encryption overhead that can slow connections.
- Wired connection – Plug into Ethernet instead of using WiFi to remove wireless overhead.
- Extra RAM – Adding more RAM speeds processing for streaming videos.
- Updated graphics drivers – Make sure your graphics card drivers are optimized for HD video.
- Hardware acceleration – Enable hardware acceleration for your browser to offload video processing.
- Lower screen resolution – Temporarily reducing your monitor resolution can also help.
Optimizing your computer for streaming provides more resources for glitch-free playback. But it requires technical know-how to change settings without impacting other tasks.
Use LinkedIn Learning During Off-Peak Hours
Internet usage tends to peak during traditional evenings and weekends. All that extra network congestion can slow speeds.
Try using LinkedIn Learning during off-peak hours like early mornings or mid-day on weekdays. The lighter usage leaves more bandwidth available so there’s less competition and congestion impacting your streaming connection.
Off-peak viewing won’t completely resolve inherent technical issues. But avoiding peak congestion improves the odds of a smooth streaming experience.
Conclusion
Buffering and lagging issues while trying to stream LinkedIn Learning courses can definitely be frustrating. But there are variety of techniques you can try to smooth out playback:
- Confirm your internet connection meets minimum speed requirements.
- Check for problems with your home WiFi network.
- Ensure your computer meets technical requirements for HD streaming.
- Troubleshoot browser and LinkedIn Learning app issues.
- Adjust video and computer settings to optimize for streaming.
- Contact LinkedIn Learning support to identify account or infrastructure problems.
Following structured troubleshooting steps can help narrow down what exactly is disrupting your streaming experience. Reach out to LinkedIn Learning’s knowledgeable support team if you exhaust all self-help fixes. They have additional tools to diagnose your specific account issues.
With some diligent testing and tweaking, you should be able to get LinkedIn Learning courses playing smoothly without constant annoying buffering interruptions.