BBC Radio on WiFi - Having problems...anyone else?

Dinarius

I have an Eircom wireless router which is working fine - I'm typing this message on my laptop using it.

However, I have a wireless hi-fi system (Naim Uniti) and, in the last day or so, BBC radio (3 and 4 are my staple) have disappeared. I'm getting Station Unavailable messages.

A random selection of other stations on the list that the Uniti downloaded are all working fine. So also are the BBC podcasts. And so is BBC World Service live stream. This appears to be a problem restricted to the live streaming of BBC Radio 3 and 4.

Is anyone else receiving BBC via a wifi radio? By this I mean via an internet radio, NOT via BBC iPlayer on your computer.

Thanks.

D.

ps. Not sure if this is the right forum. Hope so.

dub45

Not quite sure which forum this query would be appropriate to:D

Anyway I have both a Roberts and a Pure internet radio and today they were both fine with the bbc stations. However a couple of weeks ago I was having some problems with the Roberts and the bbc stations and I had to download some software updates to fix it.

http://www.robertsradio.co.uk/assets/FAQs/STREAM202.pdf

That might be of interest to you but I suggest trying the Naim site to see if there is anything there that might be of help to you.

Dinarius

dub45,

Thanks for the reply.

As it happens, the Naim is due a firmware update. But, this shouldn't affect the existing performance since it has to do with using an iPod with it.

Just curious, who is your internet provider? I'm with Eircom (wireless feed from a router in the hall) and I'm wondering if the problem could be with them? i.e. Could they be blocking the live BBC streams? Sounds a bit daft, I know since all other BBC podcasts and other live (non BBC) stations are fine.

Since I'm about to give up UPC for Sky and the (coax-fed) BBC radio that I have everywhere else in the house, this is making me very nervous! :mad: I'm a total radio head.

I've written to Eircom and I'll let you know what they say.

Thanks again.

D.

Edited: Sorted! I've no idea why, but switching off and on my Naim Uniti solved the problem. Something to do with resetting the wifi signal stations that had been used before I guess. Anyway...phew! ;-)

dynamoshels

Hi!

I have a Roberts 202 and since Saturday I've had the same problem with getting 'timeout' messages on most BBC stations except World Service and alot of South African stations that my girlfriend listens to.

I have checked for software updates but radio says its up-to-date.

Anyone got any ideas what might be wrong??

Thanks!

dub45

dynamoshels wrote: »

Hi!

I have a Roberts 202 and since Saturday I've had the same problem with getting 'timeout' messages on most BBC stations except World Service and alot of South African stations that my girlfriend listens to.

I have checked for software updates but radio says its up-to-date.

Anyone got any ideas what might be wrong??

Thanks!

I emailed Roberts about this and they are blaming the bbc for making changes to the way the are broadcasting. They really should keep their customers up to date with what is happening via the website.

The Roberts responder said that she was not technical and suggested I ring their engineers. (I had pointed out in my email that I had a pure radio and some iphone radio apps which were working perfectly)

Unfortunately we cannot be responsible for the BBC changing formats, the radio was designed and marketed at a time when the original format was used at the BBC.

The problem is with the streaming solution used as your Pure may have another streaming solution different to the Frontier used on the WM202.

May I suggest speaking to one of our engineers who perhaps are more experienced on this subject. They are on Tel No 0208 758 0338.

Hope this helps.

xxxxxx

This reply is really a bit rubbishy - the bbc are using wma which is hardly minority type file and Roberts continue to market this model.

Email them and moan - the more people that do it the better.


Just did a quick google search there - its not a new problem by any means to judge by this thread:

https://forum.reciva.com/read.php?4,61008,page=all

dynamoshels

Thanks dub45. It's so bloody frustrating. As far as I'm aware the BBC haven't changed from WMA? Plus that wouldn't explain why other stations have gone aswell. Anyway, I'll email them and keep my fingers crossed.

Dinarius

Glad to know I'm not alone.

Up until about 3-4 weeks ago, I had a year of excellent BBC wifi radio (apart from the occasional dropouts - e.g. when the time signal for the news on BBC Radio 4 is sounding)

But, my problem now is trying to log in in the first place! :mad: I keep getting "Can't Play - Station Unavailable" on my Unitit.

Yesterday, I switched from Eircom BB to UPC BB and, while it still takes numerous attempts to tune in, the drops outs are fewer.

What in heaven's name is the BBC at?

D.

Ps. On my display it says wma, for what it's worth.

lledeht

Using Roberts Stream -202 internet radio for nearly 2 years. BBC Radio3 & 4
problems started around April 2010. Updated software as recommended on the Roberts website. All mainly OK until late Oct 2010. "Network timeout" on radio display. Leave it on and sometimes it starts again. Of late doing this has caused eveything to crash. Had to disconnect from mains. Ok after 20 seconds but still no BBC Radio 3&4. All other internet stations from US and mainland Europe are perfect. No new software updates are available.
Also, why will it not update the recent time change even though automatic update has been selected. It even reverts to Summer Time when GMT has been set manually. No reply yet to email sent to BBC technical.
I think we should be told !!:)

Dinarius

lledeht wrote: »

Updated software as recommended on the Roberts website. All mainly OK until late Oct 2010. "Network timeout" on radio display. Ok after 20 seconds but still no BBC Radio 3&4. All other internet stations from US and mainland Europe are perfect.

Bang on. My experience exactly.

Also, I'll bet you find that all the BBC Radio 3/4 podcasts are perfect? It's just the live transmission that's the problem.

D.

Dinarius

Update:

I'm almost afraid to write it, but BBC channels via wifi are behaving as they should today.

Here's hoping that something's been fixed!

D.

lledeht

All wifi stations were gone at 0830 this morning but now only BBC4 is missing.

Aepos

All BBC's seem to be working properly again, "Network Timeout" error seems to have been sorted.

I got on to Roberts Radio who were aware of the problem but it looks more like the Beeb had a problem with its streaming systems.

We shall see.

Ae

lledeht

All seems to be back to normal. Not the best PR for a radio/tv group trying to
promote all forms of digital entertainment including internet radio. Hopefully there will be a short explanatory note somewhere on their website if it happens again.

Dinarius

Another marked improvement today. Both BBC3 @ 4 tuning in faster than for some time now & dropouts are fewer too. Retune after dropouts is just as fast.

Hopefully, the beeb have sorted all the problems.

D.

Dinarius

Just bringing this to the top coz for the last couple of weeks I've have nothing in terms of live streaming of BBC Radios 3/4.

As usual, podcasts stream perfectly without ever a dropout.

How are others doing?

For what it's worth, I'm with UPC. I only switched to them in the last month. Could this make a difference? Is the IP address of my tuner assigned by UPC or by the manufacturer? How could I make it create a new address?

Thanks.

D.

Edited: I just tried what Iledeht suggested above and turned off my Uniti tuner at the mains for two minutes and then reconnected. It connected immediately! Happy days.......for now!:)

lledeht

Hi Dinarius,

Glad to hear the switch off/switch on worked well for you. Am with Eircom broadband and have had no further problems - to date. Why do I not feel completely confident that this happy status quo will last ? Grrrrrr.

dub45

lledeht wrote: »

Hi Dinarius,

Glad to hear the switch off/switch on worked well for you. Am with Eircom broadband and have had no further problems - to date. Why do I not feel completely confident that this happy status quo will last ? Grrrrrr.

I doubt very much if it is anything to do with the ISP I am with Smart and had similar problems. It probably has something to to with the variety of fomats that inernet radios have to deal with and the lack of overall standards.

Dinarius

Just bringing this to the top. BBC Radio 3/4 both fine except for the (totally random) dropouts.

On my display for Radio 3 it says, 48k MMS/WMA.

The other day, I discovered a station called AVRO Klassik. On the display it says: 320k MP3.

Two observations:

1. There are NO dropouts.

2. The broadcast volume is at least as loud as RTE on DAB. Thus, if I switch from Radio 3 to it, I have to turn the volume well down.

It's pretty stunning sound.

Is 48k MMS/WMA a poor broadcasting format?

D.

dub45

Dinarius wrote: »

Just bringing this to the top. BBC Radio 3/4 both fine except for the (totally random) dropouts.

On my display for Radio 3 it says, 48k MMS/WMA.

The other day, I discovered a station called AVRO Klassik. On the display it says: 320k MP3.

Two observations:

1. There are NO dropouts.

2. The broadcast volume is at least as loud as RTE on DAB. Thus, if I switch from Radio 3 to it, I have to turn the volume well down.

It's pretty stunning sound.

Is 48k MMS/WMA a poor broadcasting format?

D.

WMA is Microsoft's answer to mp3 - good article here about it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Audio

It is widely used however I would imagine that the actual bit rate is more of an issue if you are interested in sound quality.

Speaking of sound quality there are now hight quality streams of the bbc stations available - have a look here for R3 information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/help/radio3hd.shtml

The HD stream is not available to listen to on the website (in Ireland) but it is available in itunes! and some iphone radio apps - tune in radio and wunder radio.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r3_aaclca.pls

Its also available on Pure Radios and Logitech squeeze box - i was listening earlier on a squeezebox with an attached speaker and it sounded superb.

However this evening none of the bbc streams were working on itunes for me:(

I wrote to Roberts earlier today to ask them if they would be adding the HD streams but afaik as I know Roberts don't handle the aac format so it may not happen.

Dinarius

Thanks.

I'm not too fussy about sound quality - most sources are excellent.

It's consistency of signal that I'm concerned about. Dropouts annoy me. And, due to a rearrangement of our house, I can no longer listen to BBC Radio on dropout-free UPC cable.

The signal on my iPhone (using the Fstream app) drops out more than my hi-fi's wi-fi connection from my UPC 25Mb broadband.

So, I guess I'm stuck with that for now.

Thanks again.

D.

Dinarius

Update:

In the last week or so, listening to BBC Radio 3 & 4, via my Naim Uniti & UPC wifi connection, two things have happened:

1. Dropouts have gone from 2-3 per hour to 2-3 per day.

2. Instead of having to press play to reconnect, the Uniti now reconnects automatically after a few seconds.

I have no idea whether the BBC have changed something or whether it's UPC. But, it's happy days!

D.

Ps. Ironically enough, when I'm working in my home office, I listen to BBC via iPlayer. The computer is directly connected to the modem by cable, so the BB signal is fabulous - fully 25Mbps But, today for some reason, BBC was awful! Go figure!

dub45

Dinarius wrote: »

Update:

In the last week or so, listening to BBC Radio 3 & 4, via my Naim Uniti & UPC wifi connection, two things have happened:

1. Dropouts have gone from 2-3 per hour to 2-3 per day.

2. Instead of having to press play to reconnect, the Uniti now reconnects automatically after a few seconds.

I have no idea whether the BBC have changed something or whether it's UPC. But, it's happy days!

D.

Ps. Ironically enough, when I'm working in my home office, I listen to BBC via iPlayer. The computer is directly connected to the modem by cable, so the BB signal is fabulous - fully 25Mbps But, today for some reason, BBC was awful! Go figure!

What really should make the difference in quality is the bit rate of the signal rather than the isp speed (provided of course the speed is sufficient to deliver the signal) have you tried listening via itunes? it carries a 320k signal for r3 and 128k for r4.

Dinarius

What really should make the difference in quality is the bit rate of the signal rather than the isp speed (provided of course the speed is sufficient to deliver the signal) have you tried listening via itunes? it carries a 320k signal for r3 and 128k for r4.[/Quote]

Thanks for the reply. I'll try giving BBC via iTunes a go in the office today. Downstairs, I only listen on wifi via my Naim Uniti hi-fi, which is superb.

Based on what you say, I presume that the bit rate has changed then. I'm not complainig - not having to use the remote to reconnect every time the signal drops is great. Automatic reconnection is brill! I'm just curious at the sudden change in quality.

D.

Ps. The link you gave further up for live Radio 3 is superb on the iPhone. And replacing the 3 with a 4 gives excellent Radio 4. Ta! ;-)

Dinarius

Update:

For the last few days, there has been interference on BBC Radio 3 via wifi.

The interference is a ticking/pulsing sound that occurs continuously. (frequency is about every half second) Its audibility rises & falls with the volume of the music.

This interference does not occur on BBC Radio 4 or RTE Lyric FM ( when listened to on wifi - I would normally listen to Lyric via DAB)

Nor does it occur when I listen to BBC Radio 3 upstairs in my office, where the computer is directly connected to my UPC connection by cable. It only happens on wifi.

After a period of perfect reception (after a long bout of persistent dropouts - the fault was BBC's, apparently) this is very frustrating.

If I listen to BBC Radio 3 via wifi on my iPhone (using high quality headphones to be sure I'm not missing anything) there is no interference either.

Is it possible that the problem could be with how my hifi ( a Naim Uniti) streams Radio 3? I've read elsewhere that, for example, Revo wifi radios stream using Reciva & have had problems with Radio 3.

Anyone else having problems with Radio 3 on wifi?

Any idea what the problem might be?

Thanks.

D.

dub45

I have noticed this too using wifi on Smart Telecom.

Using a Pure radio.


http://www.pure.com/products/product.asp?Product=VL-60967&Category=Internet%20Radio

Dinarius

dub45 wrote: »

I have noticed this too using wifi on Smart Telecom.

Using a Pure radio.


http://www.pure.com/products/product.asp?Product=VL-60967&Category=Internet%20Radio

Do you ever get a 'Press play to reconnect' message. or whatever the equivalent is on the Pure?

By the way, I don't think it's the fault of the BB provider. I think it's BBC related. All other stations have no interference, though BBC Radio 4 does require 'Press play to reconnect' occasionally.

Thanks.

D.

dub45

I have never got that message - it might be a system specific one?

I listened very closely through a decent pair of headphones to the r3 signal last night on a logitch squeezebox and there was no interference. So maybe it has passed?

Also tried it on the iphone on tunein radio and there was no interference either.

Dinarius

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, it's probably system specific. Put another way, if the signal drops on your Pure, does it reconnect automatically, or do you have to reset it some way?

My radio 3 interference was still there this morning. No interference on my iPhone either, but it may be using a differnt source for the signal.

Thanks again.

D.

Dinarius

Update:

I've just noticed that the BBC Radios 3/4 HD test frequencies are now available here on my Naim Uniti.

BBC R3 is a piffling 53k AAC, but at least it's interference free, unlike the normal 48k WMA, which just gets worse.

BBC R4 is a beefier 128k AAC - much better.

However, they are not broadcast all the time & they're not a patch on, for example, AVRO Klassiek's 320k mp3.

But, they're a step in the right direction.

D.

dub45

Dinarius wrote: »

Update:

I've just noticed that the BBC Radios 3/4 HD test frequencies are now available here on my Naim Uniti.

BBC R3 is a piffling 53k AAC, but at least it's interference free, unlike the normal 48k WMA, which just gets worse.

BBC R4 is a beefier 128k AAC - much better.

However, they are not broadcast all the time & they're not a patch on, for example, AVRO Klassiek's 320k mp3.

But, they're a step in the right direction.

D.

Have you read this?

http://forums.naimaudio.com/displayForumTopic/content/4945617444367337

See the last posts.

Dinarius

dub45 wrote: »

Have you read this?

http://forums.naimaudio.com/displayForumTopic/content/4945617444367337

See the last posts.

I had completely missed that. That explains the sound quality. Though I would say it isn't as good as AVRO Klassiek. Thanks!

I wonder why I can receive BBC Radio 3 HD on my Naim hifi, but can only receive it on my computer if I use Expat Shield?

Anyway, happy days with this vastly improved service.

D.