ESPN3 Over FIOS on 2011 Mac Mini
January 23, 2016 4:51 PM Subscribe
American watching the Australian Open on ESPN3 over a Verizon FIOS connection using a 2011 Mac Mini (running Firefox). The picture is almost high definition---it's great. But there's intermittent pausing of a second or two at random times. Does this sound like a connection issue (download speed too slow), a problem originating from ESPN3, a slow processor, the browser, or something else?
Try a different browser and disable any ad blocker you have running. Also try going to WatchEspn.com if you're streaming through Verizon's site (not even sure if they have one) or vice versa.
My recommendations are based on my experience streaming ESPN3 through xfinity. I seem to have the best results in WatchEspn.com using Safari on my circa 2008 iMac. But if it's glitchy I switch to Chrome or try the xfinity site.
posted by paulcole at 5:42 PM on January 23, 2016
My recommendations are based on my experience streaming ESPN3 through xfinity. I seem to have the best results in WatchEspn.com using Safari on my circa 2008 iMac. But if it's glitchy I switch to Chrome or try the xfinity site.
posted by paulcole at 5:42 PM on January 23, 2016
Are you using the Verizon-issued router-modem combo? Because it sucks. I use mine only for the modem part and I plugged an Airport Extreme router into it and got much, much faster speeds. It was only then that I got the speeds Verizon was advertising.
posted by 4ster at 7:05 PM on January 23, 2016
posted by 4ster at 7:05 PM on January 23, 2016
"frame drop" is your search term. Not sure of the streaming tech enough to offer advice on that end.
Are you on Wifi? Get yourself Wired into ethernet ASAP, and then stop and restart the stream. If you're not sure whether your Mac is prioritizing wired connections (it should, but...), then turn off Wifi. WiFi, like so very many wireless connections, loses a lot of data to interference and attenuation, but most types of web traffic are tolerant of poor connections and hide the fact very well. Streaming is a network application that shows the warts of a bad connection if not properly compensated for. If Wi-Fi wasn't ultra-convenient, nobody would tolerate its bad quality, IMO.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:27 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Are you on Wifi? Get yourself Wired into ethernet ASAP, and then stop and restart the stream. If you're not sure whether your Mac is prioritizing wired connections (it should, but...), then turn off Wifi. WiFi, like so very many wireless connections, loses a lot of data to interference and attenuation, but most types of web traffic are tolerant of poor connections and hide the fact very well. Streaming is a network application that shows the warts of a bad connection if not properly compensated for. If Wi-Fi wasn't ultra-convenient, nobody would tolerate its bad quality, IMO.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:27 PM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've had big issues with ESPN3 during this Australian Open, especially with the stream pausing and repeating itself in little chunks over and over again. And we're on a rock solid Internet connection, so I don't think the problem is yours.
posted by yellowcandy at 3:05 PM on January 24, 2016
posted by yellowcandy at 3:05 PM on January 24, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
Probably not the browser but that's easy to test using a different browser.
A HD stream will use ~ 5Mbps. That should be well within the downstream limits of the FIOS connection to your residence.
So that leaves the FIOS network beyond your local connection, the Internet itself, or ESPN3. There's no way to know for sure about those as they're beyond your ability to monitor.
I usually chalk it up to ESPN's servers not being able to handle the load. But who knows....
posted by LoveHam at 5:22 PM on January 23, 2016