Buffering!! We hate it too.
Lobster Ink is a video-based learning platform that has, as a minimum requirement, the ability to effectively stream video content at your location. Video playback issues unfortunately usually have to do with internet download speed at your location. Lobster Ink’s smart international content distribution networks try their best to analyse your connection and adjust the video quality to give your best chance of a smooth video playing experience.
If this is not working for you, try to view a video from another video service like www.vimeo.com or www.youtube.com. If playback on these services is fine, work through the below steps to try to diagnose the possible issue:
1. Your bandwidth does not meet the minimum requirements for smooth streaming of the video content (set at 4Mbps downstream).
Action: Please check that the computer and internet settings meet the minimum requirements listed above. To assess your bandwidth capabilities, you can use a free service such as www.speedtest.net or www.fast.com to analyse your bandwidth capacity. Should you meet the requirements and still be experiencing video playback issues, it is likely that the problem may be one of the two options below.
2. The video content from lobsterink.com is being limited by your service provider or IT department - i.e. certain settings are constraining the effective streaming of video content to the end user.
Sometimes, network administrators try to preserve the bandwidth that is made available to guests and colleagues by limiting video streaming from websites which are not officially built into their system policy. This would mean that the system is constraining video download from lobsterink.com due to policies and parameters put in place by your network administrator, or the person or company who is responsible for your IT and internet systems.
As a useful test, if you are on the home WiFI, try to connect to your router using a network cable, or even via a mobile phone connection (for example, 3G / 4G or LTE) to see if this makes a difference. If the new connection improves the video playback, then it is very likely that the video streaming is being limited by a network policy.
3. If neither of the above two issues is a constraint, it is likely that the challenges you are facing may be limited to a particular computer or browser you are using. Sometimes, particular computers or internet browsers have issues that make it difficult to use modern websites or video formats effectively.
Action: Please test the video playback or use of the Lobster Ink platform on a different computer to see if you can reproduce the problems. If using a different computer does solve the issue, it is likely that it is the local conditions of your computer or mobile device which is causing the issue. Please use an alternative computer or take the problematic computer to an expert who can diagnose the problem and solve it effectively.