Knowledge Base/Getting Started/Most Frequent User Issues

Streaming Related Issues

Databazaarmedia Support
posted this on August 03, 2011 05:04 am

When you find that a movie is buffering constantly or stopping for a second after every two seconds or any such thing, this is a network or streaming issue, more often than not.

Steps to follow are:

  • What is the speed of your internet connection?

Most of you probably have a broadband connection and are able to watch Netflix without any problems. But we need to know the speed of your line: 2 mbps, 3.5 mbps and so on. If you are not sure about the speed of your connection, visit www.speedtest.net and run the test. You will know your internet bandwidth. Databazaar Media content is only optimized for those with at least a 1-1.5 mbps connection. If you have a 512 kbps or 768 kbps line, which in some places is still classified as broadband, the content will not stream smoothly. Netflix may work on slower connections as they offer pretty low bit-rate streams for some of their content. So, if your speed test says that you are not getting speeds at or higher than 1 mbps, the problem is identified, and you don't need to look further. 

  • Reset your internet connections and retry. Resetting the ADSL modems, the router etc. also solves issues like this, if you are on a sufficient connection. 
  • What device are you streaming from : Roku, Boxee, Web?

To solve a streaming issue, we need to replicate it at our end and check on the specific device that you are using. So, do mention the device that you are using when you submit a support request. It would also help if a specific movie was named, so we can check the same content.

  • If we are unable to replicate the issue at our end, we will attempt re-uploading that particular film as sometimes, there may be a possibility the film may not have propagated correctly to the server on the cdn servicing that particular customer's area. If the issue persists even after re-upload, we will look at the cdn, streaming speed etc. Server end issues.

Most of the time, issues are because of low bandwidth on the customer end. Either someone else on the network is clogging it up or you may just be getting low speed at the time or you may just have a slower connection.