Virgin ADSL

[scoobydoo]

I have just changed from Virgin Cable to Virgin adsl because of moving house. I had to stay with them otherwise I wouldve had to pay off the rest of my contract. Now everything is ok for browsing the Internet, no problems at all. The problem I am having is streaming...big problems on BBC site and streaming Betfair. Just doesnt seem to connect and buffers constantly....I am lucky if I get a connection once in every 25 attempts. I rang Virgin on Sunday and they sent me 2 emails on what I could do to improve things...then I had an online discussion with someone that lasted about 2 mins after she said its a BBC problem! I know it isnt as I have seen others saying streaming is awful on Virgin adsl. Is there anyting I can do, any software that would help me here or do I just have to go back to Virgin and threaten to send the boys round? :rolleyes: Any help would be appreciated. :cryer

[TheOldhamWhisper]

What are you streaming to? Real player? Quicktime?

[scoobydoo]

What are you streaming to? Real player? Quicktime?

No its to Adobe Flash player mainly now isnt it...Ive tried taking it off and then putting it on again but it makes little difference. Its just so frustrating as it its little use on those sites. I think it is Virgins fault from what Ive read, just wondered if I could do anything myself TOW. Im just going to keep complaining every week if I have to.:headbange

[TheOldhamWhisper]

OK, this seems to be a common 'fault' with the BBC site and Virgin ADSL...but not common enough for anyone to give a definitive answer!

First off, have you got BBC iPlayer installed?
Have you got any Peer to Peer (file sharing) software installed?
Do you use (or have you ever used) iTunes?

Any of the above will make streaming very difficult as they all hog bandwidth by not closing the connections when you close the software.

If you can answer no to all the above, you could try uninstalling and re-installing Flash player. You should be able to get the latest viewer from the Macromedia site for free.

[TheOldhamWhisper]

...I think it is Virgins fault from what Ive read, just wondered if I could do anything myself TOW. Im just going to keep complaining every week if I have to.:headbange

I got the impression that it was a problem with the BBC site as sites such as YouTube seem to be OK.

[scoobydoo]

OK, this seems to be a common 'fault' with the BBC site and Virgin ADSL...but not common enough for anyone to give a definitive answer!

First off, have you got BBC iPlayer installed?
Have you got any Peer to Peer (file sharing) software installed?
Do you use (or have you ever used) iTunes?

Any of the above will make streaming very difficult as they all hog bandwidth by not closing the connections when you close the software.

If you can answer no to all the above, you could try uninstalling and re-installing Flash player. You should be able to get the latest viewer from the Macromedia site for free.

I have got BBC iplayer installed but only since this buffering started happening...its the only way I can watch anything on there by downloading it first. I have no file sharing software on but I do have iTunes on yes. I have a download meter on TOW and I could see the other day that the KServices.exe was downloading and uploading like crazy even after I closed the iPlayer software but I then terminated that... I cant see anything connecting at all from the meter...its baffling. Its just when I try and stream anything on the BBC it just doesnt seem to connect to their server...I dont know if it is the oversubscription by Virgin that people talk about on some forums...apparently these problems never happened before Virgin bought out NTL? I just dont know enough to be honest. All I know is it has nothing to do with peak hours...it happens all the time! :ermmmThanks for your help anyway mate. :)

[John]

Its just when I try and stream anything on the BBC it just doesnt seem to connect to their server...

How strange - the only way I can watch anything from the BBC iPlayer site is by streaming it. When I try to download it, nothing happens! Seems like I have the reverse of your problem...

I know it sounds a bit far fetched but you could have something running in the background that you don't know about, if you catch my drift. :yikes: It's worth running Spyware Doctor every once in a while (I leave mine enabled when I'm in Windows) and block everything that I don't trust accessing the Internet. When was the last time you ran a scan?

Don't mean to make you paranoid. :)

[scoobydoo]

How strange - the only way I can watch anything from the BBC iPlayer site is by streaming it. When I try to download it, nothing happens! Seems like I have the reverse of your problem...

I know it sounds a bit far fetched but you could have something running in the background that you don't know about, if you catch my drift. :yikes: It's worth running Spyware Doctor every once in a while (I leave mine enabled when I'm in Windows) and block everything that I don't trust accessing the Internet. When was the last time you ran a scan?

Don't mean to make you paranoid. :)

:laugh I do have spyware doctor...full version but took it off as it tends to slow my laptop down at times. Ill put it back on and run a scan ta. :)

[TheOldhamWhisper]

I think the problem is between the BBC software and Virgin ADSL.

Just a thought, but have you tried using the Firefox browser to see if it makes any difference?

[TheOldhamWhisper]

...When I try to download it, nothing happens!

Check your firewall settings, John. It might just need adding into the exceptions list.

[John]

Thanks Oldham, yeah it probably needs to be added. I don't know where my firewall settings are in Firefox, but I'm pretty sure when I saw that message, "Do you wish to allow X to access the Internet?" I clicked on "Allow"... if that's what you mean by my firewall settings?

[scoobydoo]

I think the problem is between the BBC software and Virgin ADSL.

Just a thought, but have you tried using the Firefox browser to see if it makes any difference?

Tried Firefox and it makes no difference TOW...will just have to put up with it by the look of it. Thanks for help fellas anyway.:)

[TheOldhamWhisper]

John:

Go into Network Connections and right click on the connection to select Properties. Go to the Advanced tab and select the Settings button for your firewall. Click on the exceptions tab. You should have Delivery Services Manager in there with a tick next to it.

If not, click on Add Program and navigate to Program Files\Kontiki and add the KService.exe file.

[TheOldhamWhisper]

Tried Firefox and it makes no difference TOW...will just have to put up with it by the look of it. Thanks for help fellas anyway.:)

Well, that eliminates a problem with the Flash plugin.

If I find anything, I'll let you know. :)

[scoobydoo]

Well, that eliminates a problem with the Flash plugin.

If I find anything, I'll let you know. :)

Thanks TOW...would be intrigued if you did find anything. Can use ITV.com, which uses flash, but both Betfair and BBC...both flash....very hit and miss. Maybe it has more to do with traffic but then you would think that at 1 in the morning you would be able to get on? :doh

[John]

John:

Go into Network Connections and right click on the connection to select.......

Thanks Oldham, although that was already selected - but next time I try and use iPlayer to download something it will hopefully work anyway. Actually one reason might have been because I was using Firefox 2.0 which got corrupted when I had spyware on my computer earlier this year. I got rid of that, and not long ago upgraded to Firefox 3.0, which unlike 2.0 hasn't been problematic.

Thanks for your help.