Live Streaming & Premieres
Buffering
Also called: rebuffering, stalling
Every player keeps a buffer, a few seconds of video downloaded ahead of what you are watching. Buffering happens when that buffer empties, either because the connection cannot keep up with the selected quality or because the source is not sending data fast enough.
On a live stream the cause splits in two. Viewer-side buffering affects one person and comes down to their connection or quality setting. Broadcast-side buffering hits everyone at once and points at your upload bitrate, encoder settings or dropped frames. Check whether chat is complaining as a group before you change anything.