Desktop: Music Stops / Buffering Issues

[pamelarae05]

My boyfriend cancelled his subscription for this exact reason.  I experience as well on a desktop computer and my android phone as well.  None of the troubleshooting steps makes any difference. It just started happening a couple of months ago and is something Pandora should look into on their side and get corrected.

[Jackrabbit]

Considering the same thing.  This is ridiculous.  I can no longer listen to Pandora on any browser on my computer. It plays half a song, then goes silent while the progress bar shows the song is "still playing."  I used to like to play music in the background while doing other things, but if I have to close the browser and open it again literally every one or two minutes, what's the point?

[AdamPandora]

@pamelarae05 I moved your post to the Desktop space since the original thread you posted on was specific to Onkyo receivers.

Buffering on your desktop computer:

Could you tell me a bit more about what is happening?

1. Aare you listening from:
• A Mac or Windows computer?
  
• Our website, or the desktop app? If you're listening from our website, what browser are you using?
2. Can you provide me with a screenshot of what you're seeing?
   

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Buffering on your Android phone:

I've enabled a trace on your account to help us better understand what's happening.

For this trace to be useful, we'll need you to run through our troubleshooting steps once more: Troubleshooting for Android Devices

If you continue to experience buffering issues after running through those troubleshooting steps, I'd like to report your issue to our engineering team. Can you send over a bit more info about your device?

• Model:
• Carrier:
• Android version (Settings > About Phone):
• Build number (Settings > About Phone):
• Android Security Patch Level, if noted on your device (Settings > About Phone):
• Pandora version:
  • If you can open Pandora, go to Profile, then select Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the screen for the version number.
  • If you can't open Pandora: from Android Home screen > Android Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Find Pandora

Are you connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data when this is happening?

Have you identified any other patterns or notable information?

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

@Jackrabbit I moved your post to this thread since you are also running into buffering issues when streaming Pandora on your desktop computer.

It sounds like the issue may be related to the network you're using to connect to Pandora since it is happening across all browsers.

Please try connecting your device directly via an Ethernet cable and see if that helps.

If there is no change, try rebooting your connection: 

1. Shut down your device completely;
2. Unplug your modem and router, wait one full minute, and then plug them back in;
3. Wait five more minutes to allow the modem and router to fully boot back up;
4. Turn your device back on and try Pandora again.

If Pandora still isn't working, could you check if you're able to connect to your network using another streaming service, such as YouTube?

You might also try connecting your device to an entirely different network, or using a different device on your current network, to see if your streaming improves.

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[pamelarae05]

I am using firefox to access the website on a desktop computer. It just says buffering in the corner and will start skipping songs and be down anywhere from a few seconds to 10+ minutes. It's also happened on my android cellphone using the app. I am familiar with clearing cache and browser history and none of that makes any difference. It started happening and seems to have gotten worse. I don't believe this is a device problem, but more a streaming problem for pandora. I pay plenty for the subscription to have it actually work.  

[AlyssaPandora]

@pamelarae05 I completely understand where you're coming from. 

In the meantime, I’ve enabled a trace on your account to help us better understand what’s happening. For this trace to be useful, we’ll need you to run through our troubleshooting steps for your Firefox web browser. You can skip over the clearing history / cookies step as it sounds like you have already tried this. The trace will also be helpful in case we need to report this over to our engineering team.

Let us know how it goes. 🎧

[Jackrabbit]

Everything else was working perfectly.  I did find a bizarre solution, though.  The router I used is shared so I didn't touch that, but I tried using different usb dongles in different usb ports and eventually something shook loose.

I haven't had any Pandora streaming issues today.

[AlyssaPandora]

@Jackrabbit Thanks for the follow up! If anything else pops up, please don't hesitate to let us know. Happy listening 🎧

[pamelarae05]

Didn't make a difference and I don't have another browser option to use. Never had a problem before. YouTube and other streaming plays fine.

[AlyssaPandora]

@pamelarae05 Thanks for the update. In the meantime, I've escalated your issue to email so that we can run a diagnostic on your computer / browser. 

If you don't see the email soon, please check your spam / junk folder to make sure it didn't end up there. 📬

[pamelarae05]

I ran that diagnostic on my computer and clicked send report

[sorhan01]

I am having the same issue on PC, starting 12th of Oct through current. I usually leave a tab open (Brave Browser) and music will stop playing until I switch to the tab. when I switch to the tab, I will see it trying to buffer, the next song will usually play without issue. I am in the process of testing with Chrome to see if this is some issue with Brave and it's security platform, or if this is an issue with Pandora. I am also working with my ISP just to make sure that the problem is identified and resolved by whatever means necessary.

[amibo1012]

I've tried multiple browsers and the music will start, then it just stops. It appears to continue (the dancing bars), but no sound comes out. Sometimes I get a BUFFERING... message, usually not. Sometimes refresh works for a little while, sometimes not at all. EVERYTHING else works - YouTube etc. - with no delay or issues. I exclusively use Google, but when I switched and tried it on i.e. (new, no old cookies) I got "revocation information for the security certificate is not available" warning message, but otherwise have gotten no error messages.  This has been going on for several days now.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @sorhan01. 👋

Nice to see you around the community space. 

Unfortunately, Brave isn't a supported browser for Pandora. You can find the minimum web specifications to stream Pandora from computers here. I'm very sorry for any inconvenience this has or may cause. 

If you experience this same issue on Chrome, please let me know. These steps may be helpful for troubleshooting your Chrome browser.

Another option is to use the Pandora Desktop app, if Brave is your preferred browser but continues to buffer. You can find out more information about the desktop app here.

Feel free to keep us upgraded on your progress with your ISP as well. 🎧

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @amibo1012. 👋

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing this buffering issue.

I’ve enabled a trace on your Pandora account to help us better understand what’s happening. Let's try running through these steps to see it if helps with the issue you're experiencing on your Google browser.

Let me know how it goes. 🎧

[lnelement]

Having the same issues as the posters above, I've tried using the PC app on microsoft store and still having the buffering issue. My android app works just fine but my browser and pc app stops after a song or two and can't get it started again.

[orviltfud]

mine stop playing on a station say buffering but never comes back unless I change stations

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @orviltfud. 👋

Thanks for sharing your experience, and sorry for the trouble with the buffering.

• Does this happen when you're using a web browser? If so, which one?
• Or, does this issue occur when you listen from the Pandora Desktop App on your PC or MAC computer?

Let me know. 🎧

[skeven]

This started happening to me today, and the only thing that has changed on my computer is that it recently updated to the version 2004 update for Windows 10 (not sure if that has anything to do with it).

I'll play my stations, and it won't happen to every song, but when it does, it's usually when there's maybe 10% of the song left. I have to skip the rest of the song or change station to get music to come back. Occurs in both the Pandora Desktop App and Chrome Browser.

Incredibly aggravating.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @skeven. 👋

Sorry for the continued trouble with this - I completely understand your frustration. Thanks so much for reporting this on the community.

I’ve enabled a trace on your Pandora account to help us better understand what’s happening. For this trace to be useful, we’ll need you to run through our troubleshooting steps.

• For your desktop app, please try out these steps.
• For your Chrome browser, you can find the troubleshooting steps here.

++

Since you're experiencing this on both the desktop app, and your we browser, I would also recommend rebooting your connection to see if it helps.

• Shut down your device completely;
• Unplug your modem and router, wait one full minute, and then plug them back in;
• Wait five more minutes to allow the modem and router to fully boot back up;

Turn your device back on and try Pandora again.

• If Pandora still isn't working, could you check if you're able to connect to your network using another streaming service, such as YouTube?
• Are you receiving any error messages during when you attempt to listen? If so, what does it say?

Thanks for sticking with me on this. Let me know how it goes. 🎧