National Association of Regional Councils

Wireless Users
We strongly recommend using a WIRED connection rather than using Wireless connection. Wireless can cause additional buffering and freezing screen on the video.

AOL USERS!
Do not use the AOL media player, this is causing lots of issues for our users. Use Internet Explorer and the Windows Media Player.

Why are the videos staggering or freezing?
Whether you have a high-speed (DSL/ Cable Modem/ T1) or a low-speed connection (56k Dial-Up/ISDN), Internet traffic congestion affects your connection speed and/or video performance. You will get slower or faster speeds at different times depending on peak or off-peak use hours. You may get slower speeds during the morning and afternoon, but faster speeds late at night when fewer people are online. Also, streaming quality decreases as more people share the line at one time on a Cable Modem connection.

Why do the videos frequently pause to buffer?
If the videos frequently buffer, then it means that you are not maintaining a fast enough connection to our servers to watch our videos at the speed you selected. Try increasing your buffering rate in the player:

NOTE: You must open the Windows Media Player separately under Start, Programs, in order to access these options.

• Open the Windows Media Player.
• Pull down the Tools menu and select "Options."
• Select "Performance."
• Under Network Buffering, select "Buffer."
• Adjust buffering to "10 seconds of data."
• Click "OK."
• Close and reopen your web browser.

Why can I hear the audio but not see the video?
When Internet traffic congestion occurs, audio is often transferred before video due to the audio file size being smaller. You may only hear the video clip if the speed at the time of the connection is too slow.

How do I configure Windows Media Player to improve streaming?
We recommend Windows Media Player version 6.4 for Windows 95 and NT and Windows Media Player version 9.x for Windows 98, 2000, ME, and XP for optimum streaming.

NOTE: You must open the Windows Media Player separately under Start, Programs, in order to access these options. To find out what version you currently have:

• Open Windows Media Player.
• Click on Help in the menu bar.
• Click About Windows Media Player.
• Go to Windows Media Download Center if you need to upgrade.

Following are some tips to optimize streaming on windows media player 7.x and up.

• Start Windows Media Player.
• Click the Tools menu and choose Options.
• Click the Performance tab.
• Click "My connection speed is:" and select the appropriate speed for your Internet connection. Select Modem (56 kbps) or a lower speed if you have a 56k dial-up modem connection. Select DSL/Cable (256 kbps) or a higher speed if you have a high-speed connection (DSL, Cable Modem, T1, etc.).
• Click OK.
• NOTE: You can change these settings at any time.

Optional advanced settings:

• Click the Network tab and select all the protocols: Multicast, UDP, TCP, and HTTP.
• Click the Player tab, select "Enable automatic codec download", and choose how often you would like to upgrade (i.e., once a day, once a week, or once a month).

How do I fix problems with Windows Media Player?
Please see "How do I configure Windows Media Player to improve streaming?" or go to WindowsMedia.com: Help for further troubleshooting.

How do I return from full screen video back to the normal size?
Hit the ESC key.

The video quality is poor
The problem may be with the speed of your Internet connection. Users with fast connections such as T1 lines, cable modems, and DSL connections are able to watch our videos at a much higher quality than our 56K and 28K dial-up modem users. Streaming video over the Internet requires a great deal of bandwidth, and unfortunately 56K and slower connections are not fast enough to give you a TV quality picture you are expecting.

Setting the Windows Media Player to work behind a proxy or firewall (not for people with modems or other kinds of direct connections to the Internet)
Some schools and offices have firewalls or proxy servers which are between your computer and the Internet. If this is your case, you need to make sure that your NetShow player is set up to pass through the firewall.

NOTE: You must open the Windows Media Player separately under Start, Programs, in order to access these options. In the Windows Media Player:

• Right-click on the video.
• Select "Properties."
• Click the "Advanced" tab.
• Highlight "Windows Media Source Filter."
• Click the "Properties" button.
• Click "Configure proxy settings" and enter the name (or IP address) of your proxy

In Windows Media Player, I clicked on a video, and it asked if I wanted to download and install a new codec. What should I do? Or I installed a new codec, and now I'm having problems watching or hearing the videos
If you try to view a video and your computer asks you if you want to install a new codec, first check your security settings before selecting "yes."

In Internet Explorer, in either the View or the Tools menu, find the "Internet Options" dialog box and open it. Click on the "Security" tab in this window. Make sure that your security setting for the Internet Zone is set to "Low" before installing the new codecs.

If you select "yes" to add a new codec, you must restart your system for the new codec to function properly. If you installed a new codec, but did not follow these instructions, you may now be having problems. If you are having problems after installing a new codec, please go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.aspx

Simply download the software and install it. Once installation is complete, restart your system. You should then be able to see and hear all the videos properly.