Connection Troubleshooting FAQ
Things to check if you have trouble connecting to the streams:
Is your internet connection sufficient?
Does the stream do nothing but buffer endlessly?
Does the stream seem to play normally, but there's no audio?
Does the wrong player come up when you start a stream?
Does it say that the stream cannot be opened or found?
I do not have any firewall issues, but I still can't connect or the stream continuously buffers.
Q: Was it a random hiccup?
A: Given the complexity of the Internet, it’s not unusual for
short-lived problems to crop on somewhere in the system. Try connecting
again in a minute or two. If your problem mysteriously disappears and
never returns, great. If it recurs, especially if you can reproduce it
consistently, it’s worth hunting down and solving.
Q: Is your internet connection sufficient?
A:
If you have a slow modem (14.4 or older), you may very well have
trouble getting connecting to the streams. If you have a faster
connection (DSL, cable modem, dual ISDN, full T-1, LAN, etc.), then the
stream quality will depend on how busy the network is.
Q: Is your ISP ok?
A: Internet
Service Providers periodically have to do maintenance or
troubleshooting on their equipment, which can cause connection
problems. ISPs are not perfect, nor do they know everything all the
time. If you’re having trouble and can’t figure out why, you may wish
to contact them and let them know.
Q: Is your software current?
A: Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
and click on Product Update. If there are any critical updates or new
versions of Windows Media Player, install them and try connecting to
the stream again.
Q: Is your computer fast enough?
If
you have lots of other programs open, or very powerful programs, they
may be eating too much processor time and/or RAM for the player to work
properly. If your computer is old, it might be too slow to play the
stream regardless of what else it’s doing.
Q: Does the stream do nothing but buffer endlessly?
A:
The player needs a certain amount of music buffered before it feels
comfortable about playing the music. If it doesn't have enough network
bandwidth to buffer that much, it will just keep trying and trying to
buffer that much. Things that could keep you from having enough
bandwidth include:
- A network connection that's just too darn slow (such as a 14.4 modem)
- Too many things using the network (ie. ftp'ing something AND surfing the web AND listening to an audio stream AND using Napster AND etc.)
- Too many people using the network (ie. Jimmy using it AND Sally using it AND Timmy using it AND you using it)
Q: Is the audio out of whack? (Left/right switched, missing one side, no vocals, etc.)
A: If you're experiencing this sort of issue, you'll probably want to
check your speaker setup. Make sure your left speaker is on the left
and the right is on the right. Make sure both speakers are fully
plugged in and that their cables are in decent shape (not frayed or
cracking or cut). Make sure your audio settings are all normal. If you
can set the volume for left and right channel separately, check to see
that one isn't set drastically differently from the other, or muted.
Q: Is the audio distorted?
A:
If the audio is sheering and fuzzy, the volume is probably too high
somewhere. The first two things to check would be system volume and
speaker volume. System volume should be in your control panels; speaker
volume should be somewhere on your speakers. Try setting both to fairly
low levels and increase as necessary. If the audio is still distorted,
email feedback@pointfm.com to let us know about the problem.
Q: Does the stream seem to play normally, but there's no audio?
A: Assuming of course that you've made sure your speakers have power,
are plugged into your computer, are turned on and aren't broken, check
to make sure there's actually audio being received. You can do this by
viewing a "visualization" in Windows Media Player and RealPlayer, or by
watching the graphic EQ in WinAMP. If this is moving and changing like
there's music there, you'll probably want to check your computer's
sound settings and your soundcard installation.
If there's no movement in the EQ or visualization, see if you can tune in to The Point on the radio. If that's silent, too, send an email message to feedback@pointfm.com to let us know about the problem. If the radio signal is normal and the streams still aren't coming through, then again email us at feedback@pointfm.com to let us know about it.
Q: Does the wrong player come up when you start a stream?
A: When you install any media player, it will often try to "claim" a lot
of media types for itself, so when you try to play music or videos of
those types, that player will automatically start up and play it. Thus,
unless you tell it not to, the media player you most recently installed
will be the default player for most of the types. You can set these in
the following places:
WinAMP — Options | Preferences
WinMediaPlayer — Tools | Options | Formats
RealPlayer — View | Preferences | Upgrade | Media Types
Q: Does it say that the stream cannot be opened or found?
A: This will often call itself Error #404, by the way. You can contact feedback@pointfm.com
to get an idea of when the stream will be back up. Another thing to
check is whether or not you can connect to anything. Try viewing
another website (www.nola.com, www.jazzandheritage.org, whatever). If
that fails as well, your network connection is probably dead. Make sure
all your cables are plugged in, wait a few minutes and try again; it
might have been a temporary hiccup. If it persists, you may wish to
contact your Internet Service Provider.
If you can get other places on the web but not the streams, try viewing other content of the same type (Real, Windows Media, etc.). If you can't view that either, you may be behind a firewall, a gadget that prevents certain types of network connections. Your local network guru should know whether or not this is the case. If you can view other media content and still can't get the The Point streams, you may want to check The Point website for any possible announcements about maintenance.
Q: I think I'm behind a firewall or using Internet security software. How could that affect my connection?
A:
A firewall is used to block unwanted traffic from your network and/or
computer. If you are on a university or corporate network, check with
your Network Administrator or ISP to make sure that they have your
firewall configured to allow streaming media content to be viewed. Tell
them that you need port 80 open and if possible UDP ports 4040 and 7007.
If you have your own software or hardware firewall installed, please refer to the documentation that shipped with the product or visit that company's web site for more information.
Q: I have a software/hardware firewall installed on my computer/network. Can I still listen to streaming audio?
A:
If you are behind a software or hardware firewall, you may have trouble
with streaming media content. To overcome this problem, you will need
to connect to the broadcast site from outside the firewall or configure
the firewall to allow streaming media access from within your network.
Window Media Player firewall information:
You will need to either connect to the broadcast site from outside of
the firewall or open TCP Port 80 (HTTP) which allows Windows Media
streaming. If you continue to experience problems, follow these steps:
Start Windows Media Player - Select File/Properties/Advanced - Verify
that at the bottom of the page the HTTP option is checked - In the
server field, enter the name of your proxy server (e.g.
proxy.company.com) - In the port field enter the port your proxy server
listens on (80 or 8080 are common ). - Select OK and close the Windows
Media Player
RealPlayer firewall information:
You will need to either connect to the broadcast site from outside of
the firewall or open TCP Port 7070 which supports audio and video
streaming. RealPlayer automatically selects the most efficient
transport for your network without any intervention and therefore is
not accessible to the user.
Q: I do not have any firewall issues, but I still can't connect, or the stream continuously buffers.
A:
If you have previously connected to the stream but are currently
experiencing problems, try clearing your History and Cache in your
browser. Open Internet Explorer/Netscape/Opera and choose Tools |
Internet Options | General | Clear Temporary Internet Files and Clear
History.
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