Video freezes while playing?

The HLS protocol is the protocol used by Panda to deliver video content. It is the same one used by any video streaming services such as Apple TV, Netflix and others. This protocol aims to reduce latency problems and deliver the best possible quality, even on unreliable networks such as cellular networks in transit (where the user passes from one antenna to another of the cellular operator).

HLS, as explained in bandwidth consumption article, delivers different qualities depending on the user's available speed. So it's normal for the player to start playing the video at a lower quality and then adjust/improve it as the video runs. This helps to have faster video playback, but reduces the initial quality. This particularity found in all streaming services is seen as something positive, as it helps a user with a poor connection to avoid long loading times when the video is stopped (loading).

As it is only possible to know bandwidth availability while the video is playing, it is possible that a user with high connection availability will at some point have the network congested due to the download of a system update or another device on the same network using the available bandwidth. Temporary connection issues during video connection are also possible. Typically, video execution problems are related to the bandwidth available at the end client.

Intermittent problems with very random users are difficult to diagnose, however, the most important thing in these cases is to identify some pattern among users so that it is possible to find a
solution or cause of the problem (provider, device, resolution, etc.).


Here are some things we can ask users with problems:

How fast is the Internet connection?
How many computers share the Internet?
Is it via WiFi or 3G/4G?
Have you tried from another person's connection?
Have you tried from another computer/cell phone?

See below for more information on what information we also need to find issues.

The player cannot be loaded?

With the 403 error, it is a domain blocking issue. In this case, the domain you are embedding the player in is not released. Some member areas have their own domains, so you need to also release the host of your member area or CMS so that you can view the video during the configuration of your platform.

What information do we look for to find problems?

There are several factors that can make accessing videos difficult, so we have gathered some necessary information so that you can provide us with enough data so that our team can investigate the source of the problem. Therefore, this article is to be the source of information for our customers' support team who should look for problems following the list below:

IP Address Access to sites such as whatsmyip.com shows the provider's IP. This information is necessary as problems may occur in the networks along the way (data interconnection points and others).
Traceroute (player) Each client has a player host, traceroute helps to show which points on the Internet the user passes through to reach our servers. A routing problem can be detected with this information.
Traceroute (video) Just like the traceroute above the player, it is necessary to make a traceroute to the video hosting location.
Print or photo of the screen A complete print of the screen showing the address bar and the position where the player finds it. This information helps you know at what stage the problem is (player loaded? video loaded? what browser error message?)
Print from browser console Every browser has a way of getting additional information from the console that helps a lot with error messages to detect the source of the problem.

Traceroute or Tracert

traceroute is a tool that shows details of the path taken to reach the destination . It mainly shows the IP address and the time needed to get there. How to make a traceroute? To run, simply enter Windows (Start → Run) and type cmd to enter the DOS screen. There type the command (replace with the host of your player in Panda).

We need two traceroutes, the one from the player host and the one from the video data host:

C:\Users\Teste> tracert player-vz-05e06853-571.tv.pandavideo.com.br

The video data host is just replacing the word player with the letter b, thus:

```
C:\Users\Teste> tracert b-vz-05e06853-571.tv.pandavideo.com.br
```

Please forward the data obtained above to our support team so that we can verify it. The above information helps to find potential problems along the way (connection providers) and the above tools help to give us more diagnostic information.

Updated on: 10/03/2023