FreeRepublic Radio - Setting Up Your Media Player

Streaming media travels using 3 different "protocols," UDP, TCP, and HTTP, and usually in that order of preference. UDP is an "unconfirmed" protocol meaning that the packets get dumped out to the listener and every now and then, the server requests that your player acknowledge that you're still out there listening. This is more efficient from a bandwidth use standpoint because there isn't a lot of "handshaking" going on - in other words, there isn't a confirmation required that every single packet arrived, or that they arrived in the order that they got sent. The view is that if a few packets get lost in transmission, so what. On the other hand, on marginal connections, this can mean a lot of dropouts and re-buffering. If you set your media player to use a "confirmed" protocol like TCP or HTTP, it will require slightly more bandwidth but will usually result in a more reliable connection.

The first thing you want to do is to make sure you have a recent copy of Windows Media Player. If you're running Windows 95, buy a new computer (just kidding...). '95 or the original Windows 98 (as opposed to Windows 98 Second Edition) may require upgrading the player. You can download a current player from here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/

These pictures assume Windows Media Player version 6.4.09.1121 but the theory is the same for all of them.
Unfortunately, software writers are trying to make software look like the kind of furniture old-folks like me hate to sit in. The current version may look like this and is a classic example of Microsoft "Bloatware." Unless you like beanbag chairs or use a 25" monitor running at 1600x1200, upgrading to this version is to be avoided if at all possible. Y'know, Winamp is the most popular MP3 player partly because it doesn't eat up a lot of screen real estate. You would think that Microsoft would take a clue from this instead of producing a player with an interface big enough to have come out of the old Soviet Union.
Anyway, first, go to the options page...
Then click on the "Advanced" tab and then the "Change" button...
...whereupon you'll get a screen that looks like this. Proceed to uncheck the "UDP" checkbox - make your screen look like this one. You might even increase the "Buffer" amount rather than using the default buffering amount - presuming you have a computer with a lot of extra memory. If you're stuck with that fat-pig version 7, the previous screen should look something like this:
If you're using a marginal ISP like "Netzero" (you get what you pay for...) who over-sells their capacity or an ISP that is run out of somebody's basement, don't be surprised if even this doesn't work.

By the way, firewalls are great but if you don't know anything about them, they can be a first-class pain-in-the-butt. If you're having difficulty getting any reception at all, try turning off your firewall and see if that helps.