How does streaming work?

We store files on our servers, which are streamed to your RealPlayer when you click on an audio or video link. The player plugs in to your browser and will automatically establish a connection between your computer and our servers when a link is activated. The file will then play as it downloads. 

Find out more about streaming

Find out more about plug-ins


RealPlayer won't install

RealPlayer will only work on the operating systems listed below. If you don't have one of these operating systems, it simply won't install.

Windows: 95/98/2000, ME (final release), NT 4.0, XP Macintosh: PowerPC 604 OS 8.1 or later, G3 OS 8.5 or later. Unix: Solaris 2.6/2.7, Linux 2.0 Webwise download guide


RealPlayer isn't working

Check your connection to the Internet and make sure your computer has a soundcard installed. If your computer is part of a company network and protected by a firewall you won't receive Real Media content unless you set up your player to access it via a proxy server. Go to the RealPlayer preferences, select the proxy tab and enter the address of the server where required. You should contact your system administrator or ISP for more details of this address.


Missing plug-in error

When an audio or video link is activated the address of the file you are downloading appears in the location bar of the player. This will only accept addresses for Real Media files. Any other address will receive a 'missing plug-in' error. 


RealPlayer isn't connecting

Occasionally you may receive error messages when connecting to audio/video clips. A 'No DNS entry' error means that RealPlayer can't locate the server that you're trying to connect to. In this case, check that the link address is valid and ends with a .ram or .ra extension. Should you discover a broken link please contact the webmaster.


Picture and sound dropout

A DNS error or deterioration in the quality of the sound or picture can happen when RealPlayer doesn't receive enough data to maintain a connection to the server. This is generally caused during periods of very high traffic on the Internet or local area network. These periods may only last for a short time - try accessing the files again later on. Some problems also occur if you're trying to connect to our higher quality streams using an old version of RealPlayer. We advise that you download the latest version.


Higher quality streams

Some files are streamed using the higher quality digital G2 Surestream. This provides clearer pictures and stereo sound and should mean fewer connection dropouts. If you have the latest version of RealPlayer and still encounter problems connecting to the higher quality streams, go to RealPlayer preferences and lower the bandwidth setting.


Saving audio and video files

Because of the way audio and video files are streamed you can't save them to your computer, unless specifically stated otherwise.