Please understand that we list all the streaming solutions we know about on this page.  If you contact us and request help, we are likely to refer you to information already on this page.  Thanks for reading carefully to help us keep support costs at a minimum.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I fix buffering?
Why am I seeing an error message?
Why do I hear noises in the background?
Why does live streaming work but BBNBI streaming does not?
How do I listen on my Apple Macintosh?
What formats and players do you support?
I still can't listen, what now?

How do I fix buffering?

The most common cause of buffering is an internet connection that is too slow on the listeners end.  Dial-up users are especially prone to buffering.  Another possible contributor is activity taking place on your PC. Whenever your PC's processor is called upon to handle a task other than streaming playback, an interruption is possible. Results will vary depending on numerous factors like processor speed and memory. If streaming works fine as long as you don't use the machine for anything else, this may be the problem.

Why am I seeing an error message?

Error messages can be seen for a variety of reasons.  Here are some issues we have run into with BBN listeners:

1. Firewalls - Some firewalls can block BBN streaming. One way to test and see if your firewall is indeed the problem is to disable the firewall completely and then try streaming BBN, however, we don't recommend continued operation without some kind of firewall. For BBN streaming to work, your hardware router will need to be able to pass HTTP on port 80, MMS on port 1755 or RTSP on port 554.  Most routers (but not all) allow these protocols by default.  If disabling your firewall solves the problem, the first thing we recommend trying is disabling the UDP option in your Windows Media Player.

To turn off UDP streaming in Windows Media Player

1.  In Windows Media Player, on the Tools menu, click Options.
2.  In the Options dialog box, on the Network tab, in the Streaming protocols area, clear the UDP check box.

More Windows Media player errors codes can be looked up on the Microsoft web site.

2. Download Accelerators - Some BI students have encountered errors when "download accelerator" programs are installed on a machine. For instance, If you use software called Download Accelerator Plus, hold down the ALT key when you click the BI audio link to temporarily disable browser integration of DAP.

Why do I hear noises in the background?

The technical name is “artifacting”.  When audio is packed (compressed) to minimal bandwidth for web transfer, the un-packing process has the audible artifacts you hear.  Windows Media compression artifacts sound like rather severe phasing or many people think of it as a robot voice sound.  It isn’t possible to completely get rid of artifacts, but it is possible to reduce them.  The problem is that a minimal increase of quality comes with a price tag of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.  So we’ve selected the compression quality that offers a reliable stream to the greatest number of listeners for a price we can afford and with a quality that is adequate.

Why does live streaming work but BBNBI streaming does not?

It happens sometimes that live streaming will work fine while BBNBI on-demand streaming won't.  The usual culprits are:

1.  Presence of Winamp on the PC - To fix, open Winamp. Go to Options / Preferences / File Types / De-select WMA and ASF. The list may not be alphabetized so you may have to hunt around for these file types.

2.  Presence of a Download Accelerator (there are many) - If you use software called Download Accelerator Plus, hold down the ALT key when you click the BBN on-demand link to temporarily disable browser integration of DAP.

Recommendations:

1.  Completely remove WM Player and then install the latest version from the Microsoft web site.
2.  Turn off the local firewall and try it again with the firewall off.
3.  Sometimes the file association on a users PC can be inadvertently set to open our files with the wrong program.  The symptom is that the user is asked to save a file.  The solution depends on the operating system:

In Microsoft VISTA - Create a blank NOTEPAD file and name it fix.wma / right click on the file and select OPEN WITH / CHOOSE DEFAULT PROGRAM... select Windows Media Player and click OK.

XP - Create a blank NOTEPAD file and name it fix.wma / right click on the file and click OPEN WITH.  From the list, select Windows Media Player.  Check the box to "Always use the selected program..." and click OK.

How do I listen on my Apple Macintosh?

You will need to download and install the free Windows Media Player for Macintosh from the Microsoft web site. Click here to go to the Microsoft download page.

What formats and players do you support?

BBN BI streams in the Windows Media on-demand format.