I've been having trouble with the online music service Rhapsody since the end of last year.  When I log in to the service, I get disconnected and have to constantly log back in.  It started back in Nov. 06 (I think around the time of the latency rise fiasco) and has gotten progressively worse.  Over the last 6 - 8 weeks, I am lucky if I can log on at all.

I've been through all of the Rhapsody support (such as it is) and nothing has helped.  It occurred to me that the problem might actually be WildBlue and the latency issue.  I have Rhapsody installed on both my laptop and desktop and my laptop works fine when I use Rhapsody via a hotel network, so I'm guessing it's related to WildBlue.

Is anybody successfully using Rhapsody over WildBlue?  Are there any recommendations on what I might do to get it to work?

Thanks in advance,

rgames

No personal experience specific to your question, but I know that streaming type data works better if it doesn't go through their "proxy" server. Assuming you've got the WildBlue Optimizer installed, try bypassing their WebAccel server and take your streaming audio straight from a DNS server

//greg//

Apparently it's a known issue at Rhapsody and it's related to the latency.  Because the latency is so large via Widlblue, the Rhapsody server assumes you're disconnected and kills your connection.

I don't stream music but the latency even affects the downloads.  I don't know why the Rhapsody srever can't just wait a bit longer but I doubt there are enough of us satellite users to make them change their policy...

So, Rhapsody is yet another internet service that you can't use via WildBlue...

rgames

Ah, I assumed incorrectly. There have been complaints for years about various instant messenger type services disconnecting for the same reason. IM server misinterprets satellite lag time as an abandoned connection, and disconnects in favor of the next user in queue. Both issues - Rhapsody and instant messaging - could be remedied at the provider.

But - you still might see if you can get a more stable Rhapsody connection by NOT using the Wildblue proxy server. The web caching capability is there to enhance browsing, you don't need it to download music. In fact, it might even be partly at fault.

//greg//

Yes - I've tried it both with and without the proxy server and it doesn't seem to have an effect.

I'm confused about the proxy server, though.  The optimizer set up an "automatic configuration script" in IE but there's no proxy server listed.  Does the script set up the proxy server every time you open IE?

The reason I ask is that there's a "Use Proxy Server" option in Rhapsody but I can't figure out what the proxy server is.  I have a URL to a script but I need to know server and port for Rhapsody.  I'm not familiar with proxy servers so I'm not certain what the syntax is, either.  There's a check box for "Use Proxy Server" and a text box next to it with "server:port" in it.

I called WildBlue and they had no idea what I was talking about.  It's amazing - their "optimizer" sets up a proxy server but they have no idea what the server:port is.  Actually, they told me they don't support that...

Thanks again,

rgames