[DavidA]

Hi

A friend of mine is trying to listen to an internet radio station via
a dial-up connection. The stream breaks up every few seconds. I know
the source transmits 2 streams: one at 132 kbps (for broadband users)
& one at 37 kbps (for dial-up users). The station says that the
computer should automatically pick up the most suitable stream but I
am wondering if my friend's PC is trying to receive the 132 kbps
stream. Maybe relevant that he uses broadband at home, but dial-up
when away from home.

He's using IE7 but I don't know if IE is invoking Windows Media Player
or an ActiveX control to play the stream.

Is there anyway I can force it to use the lower bitrate stream?

BR

David

[David Morgan \(MAMS\)]

"DavidA" wrote in message ...
Hi

A friend of mine is trying to listen to an internet radio station via
a dial-up connection. The stream breaks up every few seconds. I know
the source transmits 2 streams: one at 132 kbps (for broadband users)
& one at 37 kbps (for dial-up users). The station says that the
computer should automatically pick up the most suitable stream but I
am wondering if my friend's PC is trying to receive the 132 kbps
stream. Maybe relevant that he uses broadband at home, but dial-up
when away from home.

He's using IE7 but I don't know if IE is invoking Windows Media Player
or an ActiveX control to play the stream.

Is there anyway I can force it to use the lower bitrate stream?

BR

David


If it's only breaking up every few seconds and isn't in a contant
state of stutter or complete inoperability, your friend's PC has
chosen the correct stream.

The problem here is that 56k dial-up connections usually connect
at a much lower actual rate... like 28 to 40 kbps -- and holding to a
steady 'stream' of data at that rate is virtually impossible from the
sharing of its limited bandwidth.

If your firend was connected to the higher bit rate stream, he would
get about 2 seconds of play time for every 10 seconds or more of
buffer time.


DM

[Mike Rivers]

DavidA wrote:

the source transmits 2 streams: one at 132 kbps (for broadband users)
& one at 37 kbps (for dial-up users). The station says that the
computer should automatically pick up the most suitable stream but I
am wondering if my friend's PC is trying to receive the 132 kbps
stream. Maybe relevant that he uses broadband at home, but dial-up
when away from home.

Maybe I'm behind the times (I usually am, when it comes to computer
stuff) but all of the Internet radio stations I listen to give you a
choice of stream rates and often formats (Real Audio, MP3, Windows
Media), but you have to choose what you want by clicking on the right
button. The computer doesn't know how to do that. I suppose it's
possible that the host can detect your connect speed and only present
you with the correct choice, but I'm sure there's a way to do it
manually. Make sure he's selecting the lower speed stream.

For what it's worth, when I was on dial-up, I'd get dropouts fairly
regularly. It's not a great technology. Dial-up modems adjust their
speed to current conditions. Most all of them will slow down when the
line gets noisy but aren't smart enough to speed back up again when
conditions improve.



--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[DavidA]

Thanks for your replies.

If your firend was connected to the higher bit rate stream, he would
get about 2 seconds of play time for every 10 seconds or more of
buffer time.

Actually, that's exactly what's happening. So it would be useful if I
could select the stream manually.

David

[David Morgan \(MAMS\)]

"DavidA" wrote in message news:a3c2d9ec-4549-42a1-a0b8-

Thanks for your replies.

If your firend was connected to the higher bit rate stream, he would
get about 2 seconds of play time for every 10 seconds or more of
buffer time.

Actually, that's exactly what's happening. So it would be useful if I
could select the stream manually.

Hi Dave,

I think your previous description would indicate otherwise. You said,
"The stream breaks up every few seconds." which sounds correct for
a 32k 'stream' on a dial up. If your friend were locked into the 128k
stream, he would only get 6 to 10 seconds (total) of clear audio for
every minute on the connection. In other words, a completely
unlistenable result, not just ocassional interruptions.

Since IE6, DX8, and WMP9, the default settings have been to allow
Windows to detect the connection speed. You should still be able
to manually reduce the amount of buffering before the stream starts
to play again by using the media player options.

In WMP 9 and 10, from the dropdown menu, select:

Tools | Options | Performance |

.... and you will see the ability to select the connection speed and
the default buffering

Following the same path, under the 'Network' tab, make certain that
"Multicast" is checked under 'streaming protocols'.

There may also be some room for improving performance in the IE
Tools | Options | Preferences | tabs under the security "zones"
settings. Don't fiddle with these if they look normal to you.

DM