Stream Cuts Out

Applies to: all plans.

Symptom

Your stream drops mid-broadcast. Listeners get silence or get disconnected. Sometimes it comes back on its own after a few minutes, sometimes you have to restart your broadcasting software.

The most common cause: bad routing

Your signal (your music) travels a "road" between your computer and our server. Along the way, there can be problems: a traffic jam at an overloaded hub, a blockage when a hub is under maintenance, even random issues like damaged cables (sometimes caused by weather). These interruptions can happen completely at random.

You might have no issues for months, then one day the internet decides to mess with you for a few minutes or hours, only to go back to normal the next day like nothing happened.

Why can't we fix this from our end?

Server-side, the only thing we control is keeping our servers online and accepting connections. Routing depends on your router (it's right there in the name), your ISP's internal and external routing, and the path between you and our servers. Some ISPs cheap out on better, faster, more stable routes.

What you can try

• Lower your stream's bitrate. Less data per second means more tolerance for hiccups along the route.
• Reset your router. This forces it to update its route table, which can pick a better path.
• Switch from Wi-Fi to wired Ethernet if you can. Wi-Fi adds its own instability on top of whatever's happening upstream.

The speed myth

You might be thinking: "But I have 100-gigabyte fiber-optic laser-speed internet, there's no way it's my connection!"

Speed doesn't matter for real-time streaming. It's about stability and routing. You'll be stuck in a traffic jam no matter if you're in a Ferrari or a beat-up '80s Corolla.

If nothing works

Our streams work fine for 95% of users, but there's always that 5% who'll have issues no matter what. There's no perfect system that works for everyone.

If you've tried the above and the problem keeps happening, send Caine a message and we'll work on a solution.