Sam Broadcaster - Unable to send data fast enough

[metaloz]

I just started running the Heavy Metal stream at Rock Nation Radio (http://www.rocknationradio.com) and I'm finding that Sam Broadcaster is telling me it's 'unable to send data fast enough. Encoding paused until buffer clears..."

 

The error seems to occur around 6.30pm (Australian Eastern Time) and persists for about 4-8 hours. At first I thought it was my ISP, but the uplink on my connection is plenty to handle the streams I run. I'm running a 128k Broadband stream, and a 32k Dialup. My upload speed is around 300kb/s which should easily cater for these streams.

 

The machine I'm running here is a core2quad 2.4ghz, 2gb Ram. I'm using the onboard sound card which may be part of the problem but I highly doubt it.

 

I've tried streaming with the standard MP3 encoders as well as the Lame MP3 ones, and I still have the same result.

 

I've searched on the Spacial Audio forums for a solution, but it seems like they haven't got a clue what the error is let alone how to resolve it. :doh:

 

If anyone could possibly shed some light on a solution to this problem I would really appreciate the help.

 

Thanks in advance. I hope this isn't posted anywhere else on the site, I did search but couldn't find this problem anywhere.

[BWorld]

Hello metaloz,

 

The answer to your problem lies in one of two places, or both. It is either on your end, or on your servers end (streaming server). Your upload speed may be 300kb/s, but it can fluctuate, therefore making it go lower than you expected. IF it occurs around that time, it could be a high peak on either your ISP's side, lowering your speed, or it could be a high load on your server provider's bandwidth, in which case they are probably overselling their bandwidth and you may consider looking elsewhere (somewhere with a free trial perhaps) to check if it is your internet or if it was the server providers.

 

Hope that helps you out!

[NickSS]

unable to send data fast enough is the source upstream struggling to maintain the bitrate chosen,

 

Wait it out for a while and see if it resolves itself.

 

i would say its not the hosting company im my experience and if it continues as marccus says it might be worth trying a different host on a trial as it may just be the isp's connectivity to that server location may be poor.

 

Many hosts offer multi homed servers these days so you can rent your server anywhere in the world and your host may have a different location for you to try.

 

have a chat with them they may be able to help.

[metaloz]

Hey Marc, thanks for the fast reply, much appreciated. I was hoping it would be an issue with Sam Broadcaster itself, that would make it much easier to deal with. lol.

 

I've just recently changed ISP's and am locked into a 24 month contract with them. My last ISP was Bigpond.com.au which are probably the largest broadband supplier in Australia, and I was suffering the exact same problem while with them also, and the Bigpond account was a 30mbit cable connection.

 

I spoke to my ISP earlier today and they're going to get back to me in regards to the matter as they told me their connection would be able to handle the stream and they had other people broadcasting as well. I honestly hope they didn't lead me up the garden path on this as I"m locked in to their services for 2 years.

 

I have done a tracert in the command prompt window as well as a ping test. the ping test came through ok, but the router trace looked a little dodgy to me, as there were *'s where there should have been time markers.

 

Hopefully my ISP will be able to get back to me regarding their side of the situation. It's drivin me crazy, as I think a lot of people aren't tuning into the station due to the problems in the stream at the moment.

[metaloz]

unable to send data fast enough is the source upstream struggling to maintain the bitrate chosen,

 

Wait it out for a while and see if it resolves itself.

 

i would say its not the hosting company im my experience and if it continues as marccus says it might be worth trying a different host on a trial as it may just be the isp's connectivity to that server location may be poor.

 

Many hosts offer multi homed servers these days so you can rent your server anywhere in the world and your host may have a different location for you to try.

 

have a chat with them they may be able to help.

 

Thanks for the fast reply Nick, I really do appreciate the help. I actually think you hit the nail on the head with the ISP's connectivity to the server being poor. When I did the router trace and ping test on the line here, it seems to get blocked in a few places. There are servers that won't even load in the browser.

 

I'll get the owner of the station to contact the stream host asap and hopefully they may be able to fix things at their end or possibly re-locate the server for us to try that way.

 

Once again thanks so much for the fast replies, I'll keep you posted as to how things pan out with the server. :biggrinthumb:

[BWorld]

If it is getting stopped somewhere between your internet connection and the server, it is most likely a routing issue regarding the server, or the bandwidth that is coming into that server. Great advice Nick on having them try moving the server, I think that this would be best. If the problem continues to exist, it could be your ISP, but with a traceroute result such as yours, I'm doubting it. Although I don't have the actual traceroute to see where it 'dies' at.

[shoutcaststreaming]

Download a copy of WinMTR and run it for 100 iterations between your PC and your Stream Host. It's like a traceroute, but keeps on running. It is a better tool to diagnose issues.

 

http://winmtr.sourceforge.net/winmtr_bin.zip

 

It will tell you what is happening at every hop from you to the server. It's been our experience that the issue is usually somewhere in the middle.

 

It's also good ammo to show to your ISP or stream host when trying to get your peering or server changed.

[GKIye]

Hi Metaloz,

Did you checked your "Packages - Latency" at your SAM config ?

See "Config" > "Audio Mixer Pipeline" > click "Air Out" > tab "Output" and see "Buffer Settings" for "Packets" and "Packet Time"

If you expire problems in sending your data you can try to use these settings, in general they are way to high .. but they give the right results in solving similar problems ...

set "Packets" at 15

set "Packet time" at 50ms

This gonna give you a max latency of 750ms

This has to solve your problem in delivering your data to the net, if not you have to check your support service of your provider

 

Into the same frame (SAM config > Output) to solve the following .. set your "Output driver" to "Silent Output"

and "Output Device" to "No sound device required"

Basicly there is no need to use your soundcard ...

I'm using the onboard sound card which ...

Just as an inquiry .. an upstream of 300kbps isn't that much

This don't means that you have a fix 300 kbps upstream .. depends to what your provider is offering (stability etc)

Except the stream produced by the SAM encoder there's also other data who's send by SAM (song pages updates, updates to audiorealm etc)

and most important .. not only SAM sends data .. also your pc is using the same upstream to send data (pings), to send emails etc etc

Important is : run your SAM on an own machine (pc) .. so don't use that pc for any other things unless for streaming ...

 

Hope this helps.

[bigloo]

As stated in spacial audio's forums, this error is typically a problem somewhere BETWEEN you and the server. It doesn't rule out the server, your computer, your ISP or your modem/router, but most times it is something in between. Running WinMTR as stated above can help you pinpoint the clog.

 

If it's your PC/Modem or Router, sometimes a simple reboot of each will help.

[metaloz]

Thanks for the replies and help everyone, I really appreciate everything! I think I have the problem sorted out now. I contacted my ISP telling them what was going on with my stream, and they actually ran all the tests. I noticed my modem dropped out for around 10-15 mintues the day after I spoke to them. Now the buffering problem has stopped, which is brilliant.

 

It definately must have been a faulty connection somewhere between my ISP and the server.

 

Once again, thanks so much for the advice and help!!! You guys ROCK!!

[BWorld]

We're glad to see you got the problem resolved! Another BW success story!

[Blazin 97]

This had happened to me once or twice, and it turned out to by my stream hosts fault, not mine.

[bigloo]

This error is becomming more and more common it seems. Most times it is something between you and the server. However I did have someone who was having this problem. Once they told me they hadn't rebooted their PC in over 9 months, I suggested a reboot and sure enough it worked.

 

We just need to rememeber that the internet is not a perfect place.

[metaloz]

I think I may have spoken too soon. Last night I had the same problems arise again. It's strange that it's pretty much at the same time every night almost without fail. I must have just had a lucky couple of nights.

 

I am pretty sure this problem is to do with our stream host. I'll chat with the station owner in regards to maybe getting our host server re-located as suggested earlier in the thread.

 

Hopefully something will resolve this problem soon as the stream problems are occuring during our peak time here in Australia (7.30pm- approx. 11.00pm)

[Brutish Sailor]

to test your speed without the ISP's help (to know if they are screwing you)

 

http://www.speedtest.net

[metaloz]

I just checked the speed of the connection. It seem sto be running fast enough, and this is with the stream running. I'll check the same test when I start having the buffering probs again, and see if there's much difference.

 

http://www.speedtest.net/result/456025015.png

[Brutish Sailor]

Somethings WAY wrong with that picture.

 

.25 upload is 250 kbps max roughly.

 

4 down and .25 up????

 

Your ISP is screwing you. I would ask a neighbor or friend with the same ISP to run a test and compare.

[Brutish Sailor]

ESPECIALLY WITH 48 ms pings.

[Brutish Sailor]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/456043060.png

 

and that's with DSL crappy service. The only difference is I stream at 96 kbps, so I don't want them to see my upload usage.

 

otherwise Im screwed if they troubleshoot me.

[metaloz]

yeah my uplink speed is only max of 300kbs which does suck. I've looked around for other ISPs here in Australia, but most of them offer very similar speeds unless you go onto a business plan which is pretty expensive.

 

I've ran the stream on slightly less bandwidth than this without drama's, albeit it was a different s/c host. As far as I know our host is Mixstream which seem to get a pretty good rap with their service, hopefully re-locating the server to a US based server will help the issue. I noticed that my route hits the US before it hits the UK where the host has our server set.

[James]

yeah my uplink speed is only max of 300kbs which does suck. I've looked around for other ISPs here in Australia, but most of them offer very similar speeds unless you go onto a business plan which is pretty expensive.

 

I've ran the stream on slightly less bandwidth than this without drama's, albeit it was a different s/c host. As far as I know our host is Mixstream which seem to get a pretty good rap with their service, hopefully re-locating the server to a US based server will help the issue. I noticed that my route hits the US before it hits the UK where the host has our server set.

I am with iiNet in Australia. They have their own gear instead of Telstra in nearluy every exchange in Australia. You can always give them a try (ask to see if they give a trial or a 30 day money back etc...).

 

They are great and they dont count uploads but they split the download time to peak and off-peak. Or there is Internode.

[metaloz]

I am with iiNet in Australia. They have their own gear instead of Telstra in nearluy every exchange in Australia. You can always give them a try (ask to see if they give a trial or a 30 day money back etc...).

 

They are great and they dont count uploads but they split the download time to peak and off-peak. Or there is Internode.

 

 

I just signed up recently with Netspace so I'm unfortunately tied into a contract with them for a period of time. Thanks for the up's on iiNet though mate, I'll keep them in mind just in case things don't work out with Netspace here.

 

Many thanks for all the help, I'll keep this updated as things hopefully get better.. one can only hope.

[GKIye]

I don't know if you mentioned my earlier reply concerning the settings of your max latency into SAM ?

An easy question :

Do you have a dynamic IP as client to your provider ?

If yes, this can be part of your problem .. and can be the reason that you're disconnected or have a non-stable connection after the dynamic IP at a specific time during Night or early morning is changed by your provider

I think I may have spoken too soon. Last night I had the same problems arise again.

[Brutish Sailor]

Very true. Call them and check to see if you are static.

[metaloz]

I have a dynamic IP address. The only plans through this company that offer static IP's are the business plans which are a little on the expensive side.

 

It's actually geting worse than normal. I re-formatted the computer here back to windows XP thinking that Vista may be the cause of some of the problems. I think Vista was playing havoc with my mic making it sound like it was underwater, but it definately wasn't the issue with the buffering.

 

I've ran a few of the tests, but I can't decipher head or tale of them. If I post some of the results could anyone tell if there's a problem? Just let me know what to post.