2. pc-audio
  3. 1166464848

Pandora drops out

I am new to PC music and love it so far. I have a Dell laptop, at least one generation old but it works fine as a PC. I'm using Sprint wireless broadband into an external [AC-powered] USB dac and then into the preamp. A few times per tune it will stop playing and then start, all in the space of less than a second. It is annoying, to say the least. I checked Pandora's FAQ, did a network speed test that seemed to meet the minimum required speed, I forget the exact value but it was higher then 500 mps, if I have that right. I am not running any other applications per Pandora. Any tips on how to keep the flow going? Thanks in advance.
tripper

Showing 2 responses by aball

aball
2,016 posts
 
Sounds like you are too far away from your wireless router. The modulation frequency is very high so you can't be too far, nor can you have many walls in between.

Arthur
aball
2,016 posts
 
I am afraid I was the one that wasn't clear. You see, your wireless signal gets to your card from somewhere - it isn't conjured up out of thin air. That somewhere is a wireless router that is connected to an internet modem by a wire. If this router is too far away from your laptop, the signal quality will drop (just like cell phones and cell towers). When it drops low enough, you will get an interruption of the signal. This, I feel, is what you are hearing.

If you don't own a wireless router, then you are using someone else's - and they may not be close enough to you for good signal integrity.

It is sad but true: there is no free lunch. Wireless will get you mobile but to transfer as much information as internet radio requires, you need to have high frequency transmission. To have high frequency transmission, you have to be close to the transponder. More information = less distance. Perhaps there is a lower quality feed available from Pandora (I am not familiar with that particular site) that won't drop because you will have enough bandwidth to support it.

You may well have a good feed at one particular instant but that doesn't mean it is enough for all your music all the time. Feed quality is flaky - again, just like cell phones. If you are using someone else's router, then feed quality will depend on how many people are using the router at any one time. If there are too many people, you will get cuts in your music feed.

Arthur
More to discover