10/14/09

Access to ELI Video on Demand

We have been getting calls from some students unable to access the Video on Demand files. We have found that all of them are on the Verizon Fios network. By having a student remove their laptop from the Fios network and playing the videos on the same laptop on campus we have confirmed that the issue lies with Fios and the settings on their router/modem.

Fios users unable to play our video files. Fios users need to contact Fios and have them change the settings on their router/firewall to allow for the MMS protocol.
All of our VOD files use MMS.

Here is the info regarding MMS that can be forwarded to students needing the information:
Microsoft Media Services( MMS )

The MMS protocol is designed specifically for serving multimedia presentations. Although it is not standards-based, you can use it to broadcast live or on-demand Windows Media clips to Windows Media Player. MMS uses TCP for player control messages, and UDP for video and audio data. MMS can also use TCP to deliver data, but this is not recommended.
MMS (Microsoft Windows Media) uses port 1755, when this port is used it makes the traffic faster because it is using pure MMS technology and has no HTTP overhead. MMS also works on port 80 but is slower because it is using http pragma command extensions. MMS uses Windows Media Player client to access steaming media resources. MMS is the ‘carrier’ of ASF (Advanced Streaming Format) Microsoft’s ® propriety streaming protocol. Its prime use is to carry live or pre-recorded multi media broadcasts, archived videos, sound tracks and live shows over the internet. MMS operates on top of UDP or TCP transport protocols, they are transport/network level, where as MMS exists and operates at the application level.

2 comments:

  1. Fios says that the router they have provided me does not support MMS protocol. Any suggetions on how forawrd the appropriate port and configure Windows Media Player to work properly?

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  2. We recommend you contact FIOS a second time, and see if a second technician is able to open those ports for the MMS protocol.

    In terms of applications and ports, a port is like a door, and the TCPIP protocol has tens of thousands of ports available. All routers are capable of passing all ports. It is good security technique to limit port availability that not usually being used.

    Since MMS is a legacy format, it is likely the port is closed by FIOS, but a simple switch in your router by the ISP, will allow the application to pass data on that port or doorway. It is not a case of inability to pass the data.

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