audio streaming interruptions using wifi and iOS 6

Question

Level 1

9 points

audio streaming interruptions using wifi and iOS 6

hello everyone,

I have a curious problem that seems to have started since I updated my iPhone 4 to iOS 6. I use three or four radio apps just about every day. CBC Music, MPR Radio, TuneIn Radio, etc. They have performed flawlessly for me in the past, but since the update the stream on all of these keeps getting interrupted and the stream starts re buffering. This is an intermittent problem but happens a lot, say 2 or 3 times in a few minutes. It's enough to have me stop listening and quit the app. I have a new router which works very well. All my apps are current and the three I mentioned have all been updated since the update to iOS 6. I check for app updates about once a week or so so my phone is almost always completely up to date.

This is a frustrating problem. Thanks all for reading and I hope someone has a solution...

Tim

iPhone 4, iOS 6

Posted on Oct 17, 2012 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 17, 2012 5:18 AM in response to pandoratim

hi there,

unfortunately I cannot offer a solution yet, just wanted you to know that the problem is seemingly not on your side, since I have encountered that problem yesterday as well.

While streaming my iTunes library from an MacBook Pro to an Apple TV via Apple Airport Extreme (WLAN router), the stream stops every once in a while and recommences after a few seconds.

Like you have described, all devices are up to date and the trouble started with iOS 6.

I guess it is another WiFi problem that hopefully will be addressed by Apple with the future update to iOS 6.0.1

regards, Chris

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Answer 2

Mercdom

Level 1

4 points

Oct 17, 2012 7:47 AM in response to pandoratim

This is exactly the same problem that I've seen. I'm trying to stream live radio on apps like iHeartRadio, NPR, Stitcher and they all have the same problem when streaming live audio. They all stop play, rebuffer, then continue. These apps used to work perfectly before the update. I'm on iOS 6 on an iPhone 5.

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Answer 3

Leon1803

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2012 12:57 PM in response to pandoratim

Also having the same problem since ive updates to IO6:-(

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Answer 4

Oct 17, 2012 3:26 PM in response to pandoratim

This problem has come quite far...

See Texas Mac Man's reply here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4439094

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Answer 5

pandoratim Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 17, 2012 4:57 PM in response to Christian A. Burkert

hello Christian,

thank you for writing. I've looked at Texas Mac Man's post and will try his suggestions tonight. I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks for taking the time to reply...

Tim

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Answer 6

pandoratim Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 18, 2012 5:53 AM in response to pandoratim

I regret to say the two options I tried last night did not work. I tried the first two items on Texas Mac Man's list; the tabletcrunch posting and the gizmodo posting. That is, I cleared the history cache and the cookies and data cache in the Safari settings pane and then rebooted my phone. I also tried switching the proxy setting in my WiFi network settings pane from off to auto. Neither of these options had any effect on my ability to stream audio. I watched the screen for about 10 minutes while listening to BBC World. The stream popped on and off dozens of times during that period. I will try more suggestions tonight and follow up with a posting tomorrow.

By the way, as an aside, I don't know much about proxy settings. I wonder why it was switched to off. I wonder why it should, perhaps, be switched to auto, or why one might choose a manual setting. If anyone reading this can point me to a useful primer on proxys and their settings I'd appreciate it.

thanks for reading...

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Answer 7

pandoratim Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 19, 2012 4:47 AM in response to pandoratim

hello again everyone,

I may have found a solution after reading another thread which you can view here. User Macery suggested switching encryption from AES to TKIP if using WPA/WPA2 security. I ran a test this morning for about half an hour with good results. I will spend more time on this issue tonight and report my findings over the weekend.

I must add my voice to others posting on various threads about WiFi issues related to ios 6. I am very disappointed in Apple's stonewalling on this issue. It's ridiculous that users must spend hours, days even, fiddling with settings, routers, LANs, after UPDATING a device, only to find Apple completely silent on problems which are clearly identified and documented. I realize Cupertino doesn't really exist on planet Earth but the rest of us do. C'mon Apple; get your head out of your @ss and fix this problem.

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Answer 8

Oct 19, 2012 7:40 AM in response to pandoratim

hi there,

yes, changing encryption seems to ameliorate things, but it comes with a price. Though I am not really happy with choosing a - from what I have read - significantly weaker encryption, it certainly is better than no or repeatedly interrupted WiFi connection.

In Apple's own WiFi routers you need to change the wireless security option from "Personal WPA2" to "Personal WPA/WPA2", as TKIP is part of the older WPA while the stronger AES is part of WPA2 only.

If it indeed is a problem with using AES encryption. Apple is well advised not to communicate this "big style", since you don't go to the market place shouting, "hey everybody, I have just installed an easy to break in lock in my house's front door." (figuratively spoken).

Besides it has always been Apple's policy not to comment on security problems before they have a solution available.

Don't get me wrong, this is a real nuisance, but it will go away soon. Besides, nobody forced us to upgrade to iOS 6.0.0, we could have easily waited till at least version 6.0.1 was released. Every new operating system, be it Windows, be it Linux, be it OSX or iOS has its flaws which will be corrected with the first service packs.

regards, Chris

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Answer 9

Oct 19, 2012 6:42 PM in response to Christian A. Burkert

hi there,

in addition to what I said above, I just found a good general help on recommended WiFi settings for iOS at

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199

Also, from what I read here (randers4's post at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3838773?answerId=20076235022#20076235022) using WPA2 with AES encryption seems to require a minimum length of 8 digits within iOS6, while prior versions allowed a smaller number of digits as well.

Personally I use no less than 12 digits where each digit can be one out of 96 values (26 small letters + 26 large letters, 10 numbers and the 24 special chars that are accessible directly via the keyboard. So anyone who wants to guess my password has 96^12 variations to try.

regards, Chris

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Answer 10

pandoratim Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 20, 2012 6:34 AM in response to Christian A. Burkert

hi Chris,

thanks for your two posts above. It's true, I certainly could have easily waited a week or two or more! I forget that updates need to be broken in order to become reliable.

My password is 8 digits but your suggestion of 12 is a good idea. I have had "passwords" on the project list for some time now. I still have a few that go back to the 90s when everyone used their initials as their unique password for everything. As a user I feel the biggest problem is consistency. Minimum and maximum lengths, character type, case sensitivity; these are all variables dependent on a website's developer or owner's whims. Perhaps that's as it should be but it's difficult to keep track of all those passwords. I really should get a handle on all of mine and sort them out.

In any event, I trust Apple will fix this WiFi problem and let us get back to the best security options available to us.

To other readers, I'm happy to say that the switch to TKIP seems to have solved my problem. I listened to the Minnesota Public Radio stream (using their own app) for a couple of hours last night without any buffering issues, and have been listeneing to TuneIn Pro for awhile now this morning. All good...

Ciao

Tim

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Answer 11

Jan 23, 2013 1:56 PM in response to pandoratim

I had the exact same problem with my setup .. and I discovered if I set my iphone 4 to not accept wifi and just go with the monhtly basic plan I pay for ( network feed ) of 3G fro mTelus I pay for on a monthly basis,, the problem went away.. the Iphone did not buffer and loose connection to my local radio station while standing next to my cisco wify router that feeds the internet to my laptop in the same room that never looses connection even when using skype ...

so the IOS 6 is to blame for all this then???

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Answer 12

Jul 27, 2013 1:54 AM in response to widescreen forever

Just updated my 4s to 6.1.3, the problem is still there, playing music from my library through bluetooth gets interrupted several times a minute. Problem disappears when I kill the wifi connection.

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