Hi everyone, and especially Purgatory Please Help

I still have a problem of my video stream not appearing in Chat. My laptop seems green across the board, with all resources used to about 1/3 of their capacity, upload speeds available always double of my stream, ping to destination now stable between 300 and 400ms. Improved antenna resulted in excellent signal for wireless.

Still, customers could only see the black screen. My Encoder log showed bandwidths, streaming as expected, varying just slightly with time. All security software was off. After I have been logged out, I received the following message:

Exception in Trystarfmsserver () object reference not set to an instance of an object
you have been logged out from the chat system due to broadcasting problems



Maybe anyone can see and explain my trouble in the resulting Encoder log from today:

Sat Feb 05 2011 18:48:13 : Selected video input device: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C910
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:48:13 : Selected audio input device: Internal Mic (IDT High Definiti
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:51:58 : Primary - Connected to FMS/3,5,3,824a
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:51:58 : Primary - Stream[mp4:155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v] Status: Success
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:51:58 : Primary - Network Command: onFCPublish
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:51:59 : Primary - Stream[mp4:155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v] Status: NetStream.Publish.Start
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:51:59 : Primary - Network Command: isPrivate
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:51:59 : Session Started
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:52:00 : Video Encoding Started
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:52:00 : Audio Encoding Started
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:52:06 : Auto Adjust: Drop Frame Command sent for stream mp4:155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v being published to server rtmp://ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com/live/155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v?params=bW9kZWxfaWQ9MTU1NDgxJmNs aWVudF90eXBlPWJyb2FkY2FzdGVyJmJyb2FkY2FzdF9rZXk9MUM3MkNEOEI2NjIwRjE0RjVFRDg4QUE0MDlENzEwNjEmc3RyZWFt X25hbWU9MTU1NDgxLW9mbXMxMDIuZXF4LWxhMy52cy5jb20uZjR2
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:52:12 : Auto Adjust: Stop Drop Frame Command sent for stream mp4:155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v being published to server rtmp://ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com/live/155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v?params=bW9kZWxfaWQ9MTU1NDgxJmNs aWVudF90eXBlPWJyb2FkY2FzdGVyJmJyb2FkY2FzdF9rZXk9MUM3MkNEOEI2NjIwRjE0RjVFRDg4QUE0MDlENzEwNjEmc3RyZWFt X25hbWU9MTU1NDgxLW9mbXMxMDIuZXF4LWxhMy52cy5jb20uZjR2
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:52:24 : Auto Adjust: Drop Frame Command sent for stream mp4:155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v being published to server rtmp://ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com/live/155481-ofms102.eqx-la3.vs.com.f4v?params=bW9kZWxfaWQ9MTU1NDgxJmNs aWVudF90eXBlPWJyb2FkY2FzdGVyJmJyb2FkY2FzdF9rZXk9MUM3MkNEOEI2NjIwRjE0RjVFRDg4QUE0MDlENzEwNjEmc3RyZWFt X25hbWU9MTU1NDgxLW9mbXMxMDIuZXF4LWxhMy52cy5jb20uZjR2
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:56:52 : Primary - Network Status: NetConnection.Connect.Rejected error
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:56:52 : Primary - Network Status: NetConnection.Connect.Closed status
Sat Feb 05 2011 18:57:03 : Primary - Disconnected
Quote

Caprice, you have already started 5x a new thread about the same topic.
It's much better to use the "add reply" button in your existing thread.
In case you need to consult this issue later, you will have all the info combined in just 1 thread.

I hope that somebody can help you to solve the problem.
(Personally i got a little headache when trying to read the encoder log )

Good luck! Quote

Hi everyone, and especially Purgatory Please Help



Caprice C from what you have told me now and the error log, the Flash media server seems to be replying your connection is bad and keeps dropping frames to try keeping a good video experience but because the connection seems to be very bad it gives up in the end and drops the connection.

Also from your other post "Vodacom 3G wireless " you state you are using a mobile phone broadband dongle/router the Vodacom 3G wireless ...These things are not designed for high bandwidth applications like video streaming esspecially if you live in a 3G blackspot or poor reception.. They are mean't to be used for light internet browsing and checking emails .. No matter what they tell you at the ISP for that Vodacom 3G wireless they are not telling you all the facts.. You need a DSL (lan line phone) or cable (cable tv ISP) type connection not a mobile broadband connection for high bandwidth applications...


What you can try is try broadcasting in the standard format not the HD format on offer and see if it works but i'm guessing even that will be lagging and very out of sync and in end will freeze too..


I would also contact vsmedia and ask one of the techs to monitor your connection from the server end and see what their network tools say too and what the FMS is reporting regarding your account stream.. but i'm guessing the logs will only show the connection can't keep up and there are many drop outs or a lot of error correction is kicking in trying to keep you online but in the end it times out and gives up.



If you can't get a DSL or cable connection in your area other thing you can try is getting a company in to fit a large external high gain 3G antenna so your connection is atleast good with the mobile phone company.. Which will hopefuly reduce your latency and drop outs.

The Outdoor 3G Antenna's look like these, you need to figure out how bad the connection is 1st and get the right one for your area. (This is why I say best to contact an antenna company to do that that know the area well.)

http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-antenna-outdoor.htm









http://www.flirt4free.com/ Quote

Caprice C from what you have told me now and the error log, the Flash media server seems to be replying your connection is bad and keeps dropping frames to try keeping a good video experience but because the connection seems to be very bad it gives up in the end and drops the connection.

Also from your other post "Vodacom 3G wireless " you state you are using a mobile phone broadband dongle/router the Vodacom 3G wireless ...These things are not designed for high bandwidth applications like video streaming esspecially if you live in a 3G blackspot or poor reception.. They are mean't to be used for light internet browsing and checking emails .. No matter what they tell you at the ISP for that Vodacom 3G wireless they are not telling you all the facts.. You need a DSL (lan line phone) or cable (cable tv ISP) type connection not a mobile broadband connection for high bandwidth applications...


What you can try is try broadcasting in the standard format not the HD format on offer and see if it works but i'm guessing even that will be lagging and very out of sync and in end will freeze too..


I would also contact vsmedia and ask one of the techs to monitor your connection from the server end and see what their network tools say too and what the FMS is reporting regarding your account stream.. but i'm guessing the logs will only show the connection can't keep up and there are many drop outs or a lot of error correction is kicking in trying to keep you online but in the end it times out and gives up.



If you can't get a DSL or cable connection in your area other thing you can try is getting a company in to fit a large external high gain 3G antenna so your connection is atleast good with the mobile phone company.. Which will hopefuly reduce your latency and drop outs.

The Outdoor 3G Antenna's look like these, you need to figure out how bad the connection is 1st and get the right one for your area. (This is why I say best to contact an antenna company to do that that know the area well.)

http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-antenna-outdoor.htm









http://www.flirt4free.com/



Quote

Hi, Purgatory,

Thank you so much. I find your advice most useful.

Problem I had until recently, is that in South Africa all DSL options were of ADSL type.They were so asymetrical that even a quadruple bonded-line, advertised as 16Mbps, could only give a 600Kbps international uplink. As even such low speed could not be guaranteed, this has led many South African companies through very embarrassing international video-conferencing experiences.

I am trying currently, to gain a trial access to a local optical-fiber network of RSAWEB, via a microwave transmitter. They promise 1Mbps, international pings between 200 and 300ms, with almost no jitter. A local telephony company Telkom, is also about to introduce the first SA SDSL, with uplink to 1.7Mbps, (reportedly guaranteed). This last one is over normal copper telephone line. My concern is that all of these come with contractual obligations, and that our ISP's seem to on average lie for about 50%, and most of their lie shows in international usage. Some dedicated digital connections with advertised uplink speeds of 3Mbps mysteriously drop to 0.6Mbps on international circuit. This way, I may be forced, to wait for first international speed tests on SDSL, which are often conducted by local IT consumer watch-dogs.

For now I may experiment with a 3G antenna. Despite being next to a cellphone tower, and having a good signal, I was advised that especially a unidirectional antenna will provide stability, as my signal won't be switching between towers, and will provide a kind of priority among other users, due to my in-coming signal being the strongest.

Thank you again!

Caprice_c






Quote

Yes I think your best bet is to get the 3G antenna and point it at the strongest 3G tower so you don't get tower switching (cell switching is the real name) that can cause your video stream to drop out while it connects to another tower. Like I said get someone that understands the 3G antenna and where the towers are so they can set it up to the best tower.


Also just to explain cell switching to you and what happens on a voice call for example, while you are driving say on a motorway and on the mobile phone you will go threw many cells (towers) and every time it reconnects you get milliseconds of drop out (disconnect from cell going out of range and reconnect to cell coming into range and usable) in the voice call but as we are human we don't notice the fast switchover to the next cell or if we do get a bumpy switchover it causes a little snap or crackle sound or a part of the conversation is lost and we repeat the conversation again to the other party on the call. Now lets use that example with a computer connection that is doing high data applications that is a continuous data stream like video streaming, when you get that cell switching in them few (what we think of as few as humans) milliseconds the computer/router panics and it's error correction kicks in and tries to figure out what part of the data stream was missing (from the ECC data packets ECC = Error Correcting Code) and tries to resend it, what you see is video lagging or skipping frames while it tries to fix the situation or in worst cases the data stream breaks down completely and throws you off, resulting in errors like time out disconnection errors or bad data disconnection errors. Also another side effect of a bad mobile connection is it will drop down to a slower class connection, for example when the device (router) has good signal it will use 3G+ and when it is bad it will drop down to the next lower (slower) connection maybe standard 3G then if it is still a poor signal it will again try another slower connection mode maybe GPRS. While it is dropping the class of the connection it will again connect and reconnect therfore you get the same effect as cell switching above.


Good luck with the antenna and hope it fixes your problems.




Nabil
Quote

Yes I think your best bet is to get the 3G antenna and point it at the strongest 3G tower so you don't get tower switching (cell switching is the real name) that can cause your video stream to drop out while it connects to another tower. Like I said get someone that understands the 3G antenna and where the towers are so they can set it up to the best tower.


Also just to explain cell switching to you and what happens on a voice call for example, while you are driving say on a motorway and on the mobile phone you will go threw many cells (towers) and every time it reconnects you get milliseconds of drop out (disconnect from cell going out of range and reconnect to cell coming into range and usable) in the voice call but as we are human we don't notice the fast switchover to the next cell or if we do get a bumpy switchover it causes a little snap or crackle sound or a part of the conversation is lost and we repeat the conversation again to the other party on the call. Now lets use that example with a computer connection that is doing high data applications that is a continuous data stream like video streaming, when you get that cell switching in them few (what we think of as few as humans) milliseconds the computer/router panics and it's error correction kicks in and tries to figure out what part of the data stream was missing (from the ECC data packets ECC = Error Correcting Code) and tries to resend it, what you see is video lagging or skipping frames while it tries to fix the situation or in worst cases the data stream breaks down completely and throws you off, resulting in errors like time out disconnection errors or bad data disconnection errors. Also another side effect of a bad mobile connection is it will drop down to a slower class connection, for example when the device (router) has good signal it will use 3G+ and when it is bad it will drop down to the next lower (slower) connection maybe standard 3G then if it is still a poor signal it will again try another slower connection mode maybe GPRS. While it is dropping the class of the connection it will again connect and reconnect therfore you get the same effect as cell switching above.


Good luck with the antenna and hope it fixes your problems.




Nabil




Hi Purgatory,

Thank you again, and apologies, for taking much time in replying. I have been busy, trying to find each and every option.

Thank you again, you good soul.

Caprice Quote