Trouble Shooting Guide for Viewing Online Worship?
Here are some common problems that have come up and Tim Merritt put this list together so your online viewing experience will be satisfying.
- I can’t find the video link for Facebook Live.
It’s different every week. The church will send this week’s link to your email 15 minutes before worship starts. They also post it at NDPC.org.
- I need the worship bulletin.
This week’s bulletin is available at NDPC.org.
- The video stops.
- Sometimes it has a circular symbol rotating in the middle.
- The sound is out of sync with the picture.
The video is buffering. It means somewhere between you and the source of the video there’s a holdup. It could be a slow connection at your home, a problem with your Internet Service Provider (ISP – AT&T, Xfinity/Comcast, etc). It could be heavy traffic on the internet or an outage somewhere. Many of these things are like Atlanta traffic: unpredictable but sometimes inevitable.
- What can I do?
If it persists on that day, here are some possible fixes:
* Try to limit your internet connection to one video stream at a time. If someone else is streaming video or playing an online game, that can affect the overall performance
* Reload the web page and restart the video
* Try a different browser: Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge
* Connected via Wifi? Move your computer closer to your wireless device (“modem,” “router,” “access point”)
- Next-level fixes:
* Restart your internet provider’s device: cable or fiber optic modem, wifi access point. You may want to do this on a semi-regular basis anyway.
* Restart your computer.
Zoom Pointers
Zoom 5.0 updates have been issued. Please update your zoom app on your phone and your computer. Find Zoom 5.0 link here. As we move to more virtual interactions, anticipate a learning curve with technology. Here are a couple of pointers. If you are having a difficult time accessing events online, email [email protected] with your questions.
- For Zoom meetings, download the app on your phone and create a free account. Several groups are using Zoom and will share the specifics of the particular meeting with you. However, you do not need a zoom account to access the meeting.
- Note that some of our meetings are on Google meets and it may have a different feel to it.
We strongly recommend that you download the Zoom app, and create your own unique account, rather than using the browser version. Please use this link and the following instructions to download the Zoom app prior to the gathering based on the device you’re using:
- For laptop/desktop: To download the Zoom app for your desktop or laptop, click on the “Download” button under “Zoom Client for Meetings,” which should be the first option. Once the download is complete, proceed with installing it onto your computer. The download should happen automatically.
- For mobile device: To download the Zoom app for your mobile device, click this link from your device, scroll down to “Zoom Mobile Apps” and click the option for your device–you’ll be directed to either the Apple Store or Google Play; follow directions accordingly.
- A user hint from Roger Duvall: “My screen kept jumping to people whenever they set down their drink, scooted their chair, or cleared their throat. I could have fixed this myself if I had set my screen to ‘gallery’ instead of ‘speaker.’ I don’t know about other devices, but on a laptop, I think the “gallery” setting works better.”