9/3/15 10:58 AM

This is truly OT, there's no cycling content. I know a few of you works in related field

I'm having some strange problem when trying to listen to my favorite music station via the internet. (I live just on the edge of their on-air range. Some days there's a lot of noise so I stream it sometimes)

The symptom is simple. It would play just fine for a while (1-45 minutes). Then just quit. Hitting the play button on the web site would re-start it. But it would quit again in a while.

I narrowed it down to related to connectivity. My neighbor gave me his wi-fi password. I can stream on his wi-fi for a whole day without it cutting out. Apart from having a different router/modem, the other difference is he's got a "business connection plan" which supposedly gives him a higher data throughput.

- I had two different modem/router setup. Both of them gave me the same problem. Though the newer one has less severe problem in comparison with the older router.

- Since my neighbor and I share the same trunk line, it's not likely the ISP backbone.

I'm trying to figure out if I just need a new router. Or do I need to upgrade to the higher tier plan.

But I'm not understanding why the music streaming will simply stop for no obvious reason (if it's indeed throughput related)

9/3/15 11:08 AM

Does your ISP throttle your connection based on your lesser plan costs? Your neighbor has a higher cost plan that may be the same connection speed as yours but your plan could limits data per hour.

My late inlays had a TW connection that did that.

9/3/15 11:16 AM

I would run a internet throughput speed app to see if in fact once it stops buffering your speed is different than when you started.

Also make sure of your router settings as to Power Management.

9/3/15 11:55 AM

Radio? Maybe a $15 antenna will help; an option after the settings are checked and before the plan is changed. I have a couple of stations that behave like that and the antenna helped.



MicroCenter non-amplified antenna shown. -- Full selection, they have 4 NYC/LI locations.

Link to speedtest.net for Sparky's idea.

Have you tested against another streaming service? Testing against the neighbor was great.

Sometimes you need to run through router settings very deliberately, researching settings along the way, i.e. power management, exceptions, exemptions.

When you try the speedtest, note the IP address before and after the test. You'll find it in the bottom left corner of the testing graphic. I doubt it will change, but your neighbor's "business class" service most likely has a static IP address, permanently assigned to his hardware. Yours will change addresses sometimes, but almost exclusively when you turn the modem off and on, hence my doubt.