This is a problem which a very small portion of streamers occasionally have. Its usually related to poor connectivity between the DJ (source) and the server. We actively monitor our own servers with network latency tools to ensure there is no problem our end.
Close bandwidth hungry programs
We recommend that you ensure that there are no downloads or uploads (bit torrents, p2p, msn, skype etc...) on your machine. You will need the bandwidth for steady streaming. Secondly if you share your network connection with other users / machines then make sure they are not uploading / downloading while you stream.
Use wired ethernet instead of WiFi.
Streaming over WiFi is not ideal as there can be interference which can affect your radio stream. Its best to connect over Ethernet to avoid the possibility of any problems.
Reset Modem
From a network hardware point of view, we recommend that you use an Ethernet cable to connect to your broadband router. Wireless Internet is more susceptible to interference. You should probably reset your broadband router to ensure its working as it should and not causing any issues. It could occasionally be the problem.
Packet Loss
The root of the problem is 'packet loss' which is where packets that make up your stream are lost in transit to the server. You can analyse the problem with the 'ping' and 'traceroute' commands. This will give you a good idea of where the problem is located. We have a guide for using the 'MTR Tool' to analyse network issues with a traceroute command, this can be found here.
We recommend you monitor the situation as it is quite possible that one of the routers between your Internet connection and the server is overloaded. This could be something that goes away if technicians fix the problem at the ISP level.
Lower Bitrate
You could stream at a lower bitrate. It is possible (although unlikely) that your broadband connection upload speed is insufficient for the bitrate that you are using. There is a useful speed test tool here : Speedtest.net The upstream bandwidth is the important part. It should be higher than your streaming bitrate with a bit of extra room for other network traffic.
Last resort : Change ISP
If none of the above works and you are consistently getting packet loss to the server and others it might be time to just consider changing your ISP.
Close bandwidth hungry programs
We recommend that you ensure that there are no downloads or uploads (bit torrents, p2p, msn, skype etc...) on your machine. You will need the bandwidth for steady streaming. Secondly if you share your network connection with other users / machines then make sure they are not uploading / downloading while you stream.
Use wired ethernet instead of WiFi.
Streaming over WiFi is not ideal as there can be interference which can affect your radio stream. Its best to connect over Ethernet to avoid the possibility of any problems.
Reset Modem
From a network hardware point of view, we recommend that you use an Ethernet cable to connect to your broadband router. Wireless Internet is more susceptible to interference. You should probably reset your broadband router to ensure its working as it should and not causing any issues. It could occasionally be the problem.
Packet Loss
The root of the problem is 'packet loss' which is where packets that make up your stream are lost in transit to the server. You can analyse the problem with the 'ping' and 'traceroute' commands. This will give you a good idea of where the problem is located. We have a guide for using the 'MTR Tool' to analyse network issues with a traceroute command, this can be found here.
We recommend you monitor the situation as it is quite possible that one of the routers between your Internet connection and the server is overloaded. This could be something that goes away if technicians fix the problem at the ISP level.
Lower Bitrate
You could stream at a lower bitrate. It is possible (although unlikely) that your broadband connection upload speed is insufficient for the bitrate that you are using. There is a useful speed test tool here : Speedtest.net The upstream bandwidth is the important part. It should be higher than your streaming bitrate with a bit of extra room for other network traffic.
Last resort : Change ISP
If none of the above works and you are consistently getting packet loss to the server and others it might be time to just consider changing your ISP.
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