Dual Band Option
Barnabas Road was one of the first
streaming media hosting services to offer a package including a
low-bandwidth option for dial-up service users and
several high-bandwidth
options for Broadband/DSL service users.
About 50% of North American internet
users still have dial-up service, but the percentage of dial-up use is much
greater in other countries. It is import to offer a low-bandwidth option for
dial-up users.
Dial-up Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) rarely connect their users at the full 56k modem capability. In most
cases, users are connected at a bandwidth far less than 30k and at even
lower connection speeds during peak network usage.
Generally, a low-bandwidth speed of
20k will allow for a good quality signal and allow dial-up users access to
your online broadcast.
Some stations only offer a bandwidth
higher than 20k, thinking they must improve the quality of their stream by
increasing the bandwidth to 32k, 48k, or even 64k, but dial-up internet
service users cannot use bandwidths higher than the incoming stream
capability.
When a dial-up user tries to connect
to a bandwidth higher than the ISP has opened to their PC, the media player
continuously buffers and the online broadcast starts and stops continuously
as well. Most are so frustrated with the poor listening experience they give
up and locate another online source of entertainment.
Some radio broadcasters have been
willing to lose a large percentage of the online market in favor of having
one high-bandwidth stream. They have made this choice because the cost of
providing a low and high bandwidth stream was too expensive with their
current hosting service.
The Dual-Band Option from Barnabas
Road recognizes the fact that you want and need all of the audience you can
acquire. The pricing of our Dual-Band Option recognizes that your listener can only
use one stream at a time and it costs less to provide a low-bandwidth
stream than it does a higher bandwidth stream.
Dual-Band just makes sense and it
allows you to better control your online broadcast quality and monthly
expense.
Barnabas
Road… a LEADER in streaming media for
broadcast radio.
|