Help / Player

I see an error message about network or connection problems whenever I use the Player - how can I fix this?

The BBC Player uses RealPlayer to play programmes on your computer. By default, RealPlayer tries to detect the best settings for your connection. Technically, it looks for the best way of connecting to the internet to deliver our audio streams to your computer .

If you know there is a firewall in place that has not yet been configured to allow RealPlayer traffic, RealPlayer can receive streamed media without compromising the security of the firewall. To listen to the BBC Player, you will need to configure your firewall to allow RealPlayer to access the internet.

On some networks, you may need to configure RealPlayer to use the HTTP Only option to connect to the internet. This option allows a copy of RealPlayer operating behind a strict firewall to access our audio content. Intructions on how to do this are below.

To configure RealPlayer 10.5 for Windows to receive content via HTTP only:

1. In RealPlayer, click the Tools menu and choose Preferences. The Preferences box opens.
2. In the Category pane under Connection, click Network Transports.
3. Select the Manually configure connection settings check box.
4. Click the RTSP Settings button.
5. Clear the top three boxes, then make sure the Attempt to use HTTP for all content check box is selected.
6. Click OK.
7. Click the PNA Settings button.
8. Clear the top three boxes, then make sure the Attempt to use HTTP for all content check box is selected.
9. Click OK twice to save your changes, then try to play your chosen radio show again on the BBC iPlayer.

Additionally you could try setting both transports to use just TCP. This is not recommended for dial-up users but should be okay for ASDL users.

To configure RealPlayer 10.1 for Mac OS X to receive content via HTTP only:

1. On the RealPlayer menu, click Preferences.
2. Click the Transport icon.
3. Select the Use manually configured RTSP and PNA transport Settings check box.
4. Click the Configure button.
5. Under RTSP, clear all boxes except HTTP.
6. Under PNA, clear all boxes except HTTP, then close the Transport Preferences window.

If you are listening at a place of work or school, check with your firewall administrator or IT staff about the organisation's policies on using RealPlayer and internet access before changing any settings.

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