> I listen to a certain distant radio station on the
> Internet. I have a problem with the program cutting
> in and out and when it cuts out, the little dialog
> box says "Buffering"....after a little time I get
> the signal back and it will last for a while longer
> and then cut out again.
>
> What is going on? What is buffering? I am sure there
> must be some setting that I need to change to allow
> it to stream without interruptions.
The simplest way to explain buffering is with an analogy.
You need a steady supply of water. Water is feed into a bucket, and the
bucket has a hole in the bottom. If water is poured into the bucket
faster than it drains out the hole in the bottom, you have a steady
stream of water. If there is a delay in water into the bucket, and you
run the bucket dry, there is a break in the stream of water. Start
putting more water into the bucket, and the stream of water out of the
bottom starts up again.
That's what's going on with your radio station. It is sending data
(water) into your buffer (bucket). You are draining data (the stream of
water) out of the buffer/bucket - it's what you are listening to. When
there is a delay in filling the buffer(bucket), the output - music
(stream of water) - pauses until more data (water) is sent to the buffer
(bucket).
Chances are there is nothing you can do about the buffering. If you
already have a high speed internet connection, you already have a big
hose feeding your bucket. The radio station my have a small hose
feeding the internet (small bandwidth), or there may just be too much
data passing down that bandwidth for them to keep up with keeping your
buffer full. If you don't have a high speed connection, that is
probably going to be your solution.
Tim Mullen
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