Tips and troubleshooting for viewing a live webcast
Audio Issues
- If you are not hearing any audio, make sure the video player is not muted. To unmute it, locate the speaker icon in the lower-right of the video player. If the icon has a slash through it, click it to restore the sound.
- To increase the audio level, hover over the speaker icon, then click and drag the volume slider upward.
- To increase the audio level on your computer, click the speaker icon located in the taskbar or menu bar, then drag the volume slider upward to raise the sound level. You can also use the volume keys on your keyboard, if available.
Use the best network connection possible – wired is better than wireless. You can run a speed test to determine your download speed.
Close all applications except those necessary for the webcast. This frees up the computer for better performance. A possible cause of choppiness or pausing playback is insufficient CPU resources on the broadcaster or the viewer side. If you have an older computer, its graphics card may have a difficult time encoding and decoding live and recorded video. We recommend shutting down all other applications and browser tabs / windows while broadcasting and viewing if you are experiencing playback problems.
If your computer has a Power Plan (Energy-Saving settings), choose high performance.
If you’re using a laptop, avoid running on battery: it can reduce performance.
Common problems and solutions
No video player, there is just a blank space where the player should be:
Stream is frequently re-buffering, looks "choppy," "laggy", "pausing" or "stop and go":
For imediate help contact us at webcast-help@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA