Why does ABC's hd streaming player get stuck on 228kbps quality?

September 11, 2008 10:17 PM

Why can't I get ABC's online HD streaming to consistently display HD? It goes through months where it stays stuck on 228kbps quality. ABC doesn't respond to any of my help requests and Google turns up nothing.

When ABC first released their HD episodes online, I had no problem watching them for a while. Then one day I suddenly had a problem where it would not go above 228kbps quality. No matter what I did, including uninstalling and reinstalling the player, would fix this. Pausing the video apparently doesn't cause it to buffer more either, or if it does, it just buffers a 228kbps quality video and calls it a day. I was using the same computer and the same cable internet connection I'd always used.

When this first happened I immediately went and tried my fiance's computer, which is just as good as mine and shares the same cable internet connection (we live together). The first episode I tried to watch worked perfectly. For a moment I thought something was just wrong with my computer, but then I tried to watch another episode on his computer and suddenly it had the stuck-at-228kbps-quality problem, too.

I thought maybe our provider had capped our internet speed, but it was as fast as ever. I thought maybe it was just internet congestion, but it didn't matter what time a day I tried to access it -- 3AM, 5AM, 7AM, 9AM, all during the afternoon and normal evening hours -- nothing worked. My fiance isn't using any of our bandwidth, either; he hasn't even been home when I've had this problem occur, and he isn't downloading anything.

This problem has persisted for months... until today, where it worked correctly for a brief period.

I decided to do a speed test to make sure our internet is "2Mbps or faster" like ABC requires. The speed test said our connection was 6Mbps. Great. I go to the ABC website, start the episode I'd been trying to watch for months, and... holy crap, it worked! I couldn't figure out why it worked, but at least it did, right?

Except that was the only episode I could watch. Every episode after that? Stuck at 228kbps.

Does anyone else have this problem? Has anyone managed to fix this problem? I can't figure out why it would be so inconsistent. I've filled out the form where ABC is supposed to contact me a few times now but they never do. I've managed to Google one post with a few people reporting the same problem, but no solutions. This is a shot in the dark, I realize, but who knows.

posted by Nattie to computers & internet (3 comments total)

I know it doesn't help, but this is from their FAQs.


Why am I getting bandwidth warnings?
The player performs bandwidth calculations every time an episode is played. Available bandwidth can fluctuate from moment to moment. Other factors that may affect available bandwidth or the quality of your viewing experience are: simultaneous network activity on your computer, wireless network usage, cable modems, general Internet congestion, time of day, and general computer power.

Thanks alot, now I have to watch My So Called Life, I'll let you know if I figure anything out.
posted by lee at 10:32 PM on September 11, 2008

I don't get bandwidth warnings, though. Or at least it makes it sound like it gives you some sort of message about your bandwidth, and I know I don't get anything like that. I've accounted for all the things they listed except that I don't know what "cable modems" means.

I'm currently in Texas right now, but over the summer I was in Arcadia, CA on a DSL connection and had the same problem.
posted by Nattie at 10:35 PM on September 11, 2008

I just tried the HD and it was 228 for me too. It may be a matter of them having tons of traffic and not being able to provide a higher rate.
posted by lee at 10:50 PM on September 11, 2008