Buffering Disrupts Home Internet Use for Nearly 70% of Americans

National survey warns consumers are losing patience with internet providers as broadband networks fail to keep up with increasing demand

FREMONT, Calif., May 26, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Buffering has shifted from a minor inconvenience to a defining feature of home internet as broadband reliability breaks across large parts of America, according to a new nationwide study from RtBrick.

The survey of 5,040 U.S. consumers found approximately 70% experience buffering and dropouts with their home internet, which they mainly use for video streaming, video conferencing, gaming, and working from home. This is a persistent issue: almost 1 in 10 (8%) experience buffering incidents multiple times a day, suggesting how deeply poor connectivity is embedded in daily American life.

Buffering concentrates where broadband demand is densest and most complex. Multi‑person households, fast‑growing suburban areas, and homes running several latency‑sensitive applications simultaneously are increasingly affected, with nearly 1 in 3 internet users (32%) experiencing buffering at least once a week, and 15% reporting issues daily as multiple activities compete for bandwidth.

Consumer trust in broadband is weakening

Repeated disruption could threaten consumer confidence in broadband providers. Only 37% of Americans say they completely trust their broadband provider to deliver a reliable connection. At the same time, 38% would be willing to pay extra for faster or more reliable internet, implying a potential disconnect between what consumers expect from their home broadband and what they actually receive.

The findings also show clear differences between broadband technologies. Households using fiber-based networks report fewer buffering issues, with around 27% experiencing problems on a weekly basis compared to nearly half of satellite users (47%).

“Our research shows that many U.S. households experience buffering, dropouts, or service disruptions,” said Milan Kaster, Co-founder of Obsurvant. “The data might suggest that reliability is an important factor for customer satisfaction, and that operators may face increasing expectations to address network performance, with 27% of Americans reporting that they expect their household's internet usage to increase in the next 2 years.”

Legacy networks fail to adapt

This challenge is expected to intensify as growing consumer demand puts a greater strain on today’s broadband networks. As more households rely on multiple devices and bandwidth-intensive applications at the same time, RtBrick cautions that today’s buffering problem will worsen if operators don’t address the underlying constraints and move away from networks built with monolithic network systems.

“This data is proof of the deepening structural problem with U.S. broadband networks,” said Pravin Bhandarkar, CEO and Founder at RtBrick. “As internet usage becomes more complex, legacy network infrastructure can’t provide the reliability consumers now expect at the cost points they can afford. Operators must modernize their architectures with network disaggregation if they hope to build customer satisfaction and a competitive edge.”

Access RtBrick’s U.S. Home Broadband Report by downloading it here.

About RtBrick

RtBrick is replacing legacy network infrastructure with its Multiservice Edge Routing Software, a cloud-native Network Operating System that disaggregates traditional telco routing functions and runs on open switch hardware. RtBrick ends the vendor lock-in that comes with monolithic chassis-based systems, bringing operators significant cost savings, greater choice and ease of automation. RtBrick is a privately held company headquartered in California, with additional locations in Europe, India, and Taiwan.

Media contact
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry on behalf of RtBrick
rtbrick@rlyl.com

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