Internet Radio FAQ

WELCOME...

As people realise that listening to the radio over the internet provides the best quality in sound, station choice and ease of use we thought it was high time that there was a website which explained all you need to know about Internet Radio and how to get started.

Here at aqudos.com we explain all the basics and provide you with the best range of Internet Radios available in the market place today. We have individually tested all the models on our site and our technical team can provide their full knowledge and service experience to help you join this ever more popular way of accessing over 20,000 stations from all over the globe….

The world is now truly in your hands…

Frequently Asked Questions

What is internet radio?

Internet radio is ‘broadcast’ using the Internet as the connection to the radio rather than radio waves. Conventional AM/FM radio is broadcast using transmitters at fixed locations. The further that the radio is from the transmitter, the weaker the signal becomes until beyond a certain distance and as a result, the station cannot be heard.

Internet radio does not have this limitation. With your radio connecting to the Internet, it becomes possible to listen to stations from all around the world, as well as those from broadcasters nearer home. There are now over 20,000 internet stations broadcasting from over 100 countries available for listening with an internet radio making it a global revolution for radio listeners.

Internet radio uses the power of the Internet to deliver the radio station without transmitter & reception problems. In addition, the radio is automatically updated with lists of radio stations, sorted by country or music/content genre. For example you can search for classical music from Russia or Reggae music from the Caribbean. As a consequence, selecting stations or discovering new ones is very simple and can be great fun.

What do I need to listen to internet radio stations?

The basic requirement to use internet radio is that you have a broadband Internet connection to your home (or wherever you intend to use the internet radio).

As all of our internet radios have wireless capability, you can take the internet radio wherever you like (providing it is within reception of a wireless internet access point). If you do not have wireless internet access, but have broadband, you can still use an internet radio by plugging it into one of your internet access points using a standard RJ-45 cable (usually the same cable that your PC will therefore use to gain access to the internet) making it ideal for home and office. All internet radios are simply "plug and play".

Your MAC or PC does not need to be switched on in order to listen to Internet Radio, although, if you set your music files to be ‘shared’ you can listen to the digital music library from your computer on almost all of our internet radios! How about waking up in the mornings with "Oasis - Morning Glory"?

By purchasing a purpose built internet radio you get all the usual benefits of a standard radio – alarm clock, presets, but with an improved interference-free sound quality and let’s not forget having a nice looking radio to compliment your home or office! There are many to choose from starting from around £60 upwards.

How do I set up the internet radio?

If you are using the internet radio with a wireless network, you may be prompted to enter a security code to gain access to the wireless network (Common practice to prevent unauthorized wireless access). This is also known as the "wireless network key".

If you are in an office, contact your IT helpdesk for the "wireless network key".

If you are using the internet radio with your own wireless access point and you have the WPA/WEP security enabled for your wireless connection, you will need to enter the "wireless network key" the first time your radio connects to the network (the same security key as your computer) you will only need to enter the ‘key’ in once. The radio will store this information for future use on this network.

Most standard wireless internet access points, for example the Orange Livebox or other A/DSL routers, have the default WPA/WEP key printed on the manual or internal packaging. It sounds complicated, but all you need to do is input this key and you’re away.

What internet stations are available?

Contrary to popular belief finding internet radio stations is easy…

You can now access nearly 20,000 radio stations from all over the world. These stations cover every type of radio broadcast imaginable; Music, Talk, Sport, Religion, Kids. You name it you will probably find it.

How do I get the stations I want to listen to?

When you buy an internet radio you will find that the radio will already be set up to link to one of the internet radio providers such as Reciva who already have 1000’s of stations on their portal. When you connect your radio to your wireless network it will automatically gain access to these stations and you can listen straight away.

You can then browse these stations via your internet radio. The internet radio manufacturers have made this very easy for you and you can see on the built in display all the information you need. You can search by:

Genre (Music Style, News etc)
Country/Location
Preset Favorites

If you like you can take a chance and browsing around the countries/locations is great fun and you never know what you might find.

What if I can’t find a station I want on my internet radio?

If there is a station you find on the Internet that is not listed on your internet radio then you can contact the portal and request that your station is added to the list.

Besides searching via your internet radio you can search on the internet directly as all internet radio stations have their own websites.

So if you wanted to search for 'Country Music' stations simply type it into any search engine and you will come across all relevant links to 'Country Music' stations. You can then get the website address and contact your internet radio portal operator who will add that station to their portal.

Is there any help available to find stations?

There are several websites which can help you locate stations such as –

What is ‘Listen Again’ programming?

Internet radio streams are described as either being 'live', which means that they are equivalent to a normal continuous live radio broadcast, or 'on-demand', which is the radio equivalent of video-on-demand, where the listener chooses what programme to listen to out of a library of programmes available.

On-demand streams can only be delivered over the Internet, because data must be able to travel in both directions, e.g. to tell the station what programme the user wants to listen to. This means that systems such as DAB, where data only travels in one direction from the broadcaster to the listener, will never be able to provide on-demand streams to listeners.

As the phenomenal success of the BBC iPlayer TV streams has already indicated, on-demand TV viewing and radio listening is expected to grow sharply over the next decade.

The best-known example of an on-demand radio service is the BBC's Listen Again service, which has recently been fully integrated into the BBC iPlayer alongside the on-demand TV streams.

What is a Podcast?

It is becoming difficult to ignore the growing trend of podcasting. The boom of MP3 players really took off in 2001 with the release of Apple's iPod. The iPod ushered in a new way to listen to music, and many others followed. There are currently hundreds of different MP3 players on the market today, and they have become a common possession among both young and old. Podcasting became popular in 2004 and nowadays you can find it on a huge amount of websites. Despite this popularity, many people are finding themselves thinking “But what is it? Where can I do it? What equipment do I need?” If you too are feeling a little lost about it all, then read on…

The word ‘Podcast' is a mix of the words ‘iPod' and ‘broadcast'. This has lead many people into believing that you need an iPod to be able to access podcasts, but they would be mistaken. You do not need an iPod - nor any other MP3 player - to podcast, or listen to a podcast for that matter. All you need is some audio-playing software on your computer, and of course, some form of device to allow you to hear it. The majority of people have both speakers and some form of audio-playing software - step one accomplished.

Podcasting is a type of online media delivery, but different to any that have existed previously. Put simply, podcasting allows you to download files via a feed (such as RSS) onto your computer and MP3 player. These files can be music, talk shows, interviews, discussions, news… the list is endless. However, there is more to it than that: The significant characteristic about podcasting is that you can subscribe to a series so that it automatically downloads on to your computer and MP3 player. Many believe that it is for this feature that podcasting became so popular in 2004.

Why is podcasting so popular?

Podcasting, in effect, allows you to create your own personalised radio station. The main use of podcasting is in conjunction with MP3 players - people want to listen to their favorites on the move, whenever and wherever they wish. Say you were going to have a busy week at work, and would miss your favorite radio programme. Podcasting allows you to download them all (automatically) so you can listen to them when it is more convenient for you. In fact, you can compile all your favorite music, film reviews, radio programmes, news stories and so on… in effect creating your own personal radio station to listen to.

How can I get a Podcast?

If you want to listen to individual shows, you can usually download them from the site of your choice. If you want to subscribe to a series, then you need to download some free ‘podcatching' software. Some examples of this software are iTunes, Podcast Alley, Odeo, PodNova and Feedburner. You can use podcatching software to subscribe to your favorite podcasts, which will then be automatically downloaded for you.

Where can I find Podcasts?

There is a huge amount of websites that offer their own Podcasts; it is just a matter of finding which one you like. If you're not sure where to begin, then try taking a look at podcatching software. More often than not, they have a list of the most popular Podcasts or categories of different Podcasts. Not only does this software allow you to track down Podcasts that may interest you, but some can also be used to create your own Podcasts. It has become quite a trend among webmasters to start doing this, and the Podcasts tend to be incredibly popular with regulars to the website.

That’s it…all explained. You are now ready to enter a new world of listening……

If you have any questions about any aspect of internet radio simply contact us at sales@aqudos.com and our technical team will be more than happy to help.