Why did my internet radio stop working with new internet provider?

October 6, 2018 1:16 PM

I recently switched from Verizon to Comcast for my internet service. Also bought a new wireless router. I had been listening to internet radio off of an old iPod Touch (from the station's website off the browser). Now it no longer works and other radio station's apps don't work either. Any tips appreciated.

FWIW, the new service, in general, is much more reliable and faster than my old service, which is why I'm puzzled.

posted by Jon44 to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Does the Touch have any connectivity to the router -- i.e., is it offline completely, or is it just the radio stuff? If just the radio stuff, I wonder if there is a firewall setting on the new router/system that is interfering.
posted by Mid at 1:56 PM on October 6, 2018

Response by poster: I realized I should have mentioned, that yes, I entered the new router info and password, and other internet functions are working. Also, the radio station* is streaming fine from my laptop (which uses the same internet account and same website that I'm trying to use on the iTouch).

* FWIW, the radio station is Italy's "Rai Classica" which is the best free classical station in the world.
posted by Jon44 at 2:24 PM on October 6, 2018 [2 favorites]

Firstly - Are you able to connect to the web via the Touch ? Can you browse other websites ?

I too have an old iPod Touch which I also use to listen to online radio. I've got Tunein installed on there and I've just searched, found and listened to that station via the app (Thanks for the tip) Do you have Tunein on yours ? Mine has an old version 5.1 - I wouldn't think the latest version would work.
posted by Webbster at 2:47 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

I’m thinking that the built-in firewall (or related settings) on the new router is possibly blocking a port that is used in streaming radio to the iOS device.
posted by D.C. at 8:30 PM on October 6, 2018

You said it works on the laptop but not on the Touch? I would guess that the app on the Touch is using a different port than whatever is running on the laptop. To open these, you need to determine which port(s) are needed and open them up in the router's firewall.

A (faint) possibility would be to explore the UI on the Touch to see if there is some way to tell what port it is trying to use for that "channel." If it is using a URI, it may include the port as (probably something like colon-fourdigitnumber).

Another possibility is to see if there is a connection log you can enable on the router which *might* show failed connection attempts.

The straightforward way to do it would be to use some kind of diagnostic software like Wireshark or tcpdump to monitor traffic on your network, but that is not for the faint of heart and it always takes me a long time to figure out how to actually see traffic from other stations. If you have a geeky friend, you could take the Touch there and they could see what port it's trying to use.

I checked online and could not find anything in English about Ria Classica and their internet presence, but if you read Italian you might find something or an email to their support address might help.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 10:24 AM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

So you are listening by navigating to the website? You said app, and it seems people are confused if you are listening through an app, or the website, but I'm guessing maybe the former?

I went and extracted a link the built in player uses for mp3s, which may possibly work better directly, if the JS player on the website is what's screwing things up. Try this from your Ipod
posted by gryftir at 10:24 PM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]