iCatcher sample images

Problems connecting to live feeds

If you are experiencing difficulties connecting to our live feeds, it may be due to one of the reasons below. Please check the following possible issues before assuming there is a problem with the feed.

Firewalls

If you use a firewall you may have problems. Most of our live feed links are to web servers on unconventional ports to avoid conflicts with other web services running on those systems, and your firewall may be set up to block these ports. Typically, we use port 9000 for iCatcher web servers, so to ensure there are no conflicts with your firewall, make sure port 9000 is allowed through.

Windows XP (Particularly Home Edition)

Windows XP comes with a built in firewall, which is enabled by default in Home Edition. This firewall will block unconventional ports that the iCatcher web servers use, which may be causing difficulties. See the section above on firewalls on how to resolve this issue.

Internet Service Providers

Some ISPs block outgoing connections to unconventional ports (such as those used by iCatcher web servers) to keep down outgoing traffic, reduce the spreading effect of viruses, and to prevent unauthorised/illegal internet activity (sharing of copyrighted files, etc). If your ISP employs such a system, then it may be blocking outgoing connections to iCatcher's web server. If in doubt, contact your ISP and ask if port 9000 has been blocked.

Downtime

Sometimes, a system which is providing an iCatcher live feed may not be up and running for some reason (maintenance, network fault, etc), or may be on a connection that has no fixed address to contact. Situations like this are typically identified by a connection attempt taking a long time, or a "host lookup failure". If this is the case, then please try again later.