The most common problems encountered with streaming radio are gaps and silences during playback. These sorts of issues can make streaming radio frustrating to listen to. The root of the problem can generally be traced to a couple of things. Most commonly, broken-up playback is due to a problem with the user's Internet connection. Although most Internet radio stations don't require an enormous amount of bandwidth, users with dial-up Internet usually won't be able to enjoy Internet radio. If you have a limited connection and you must listen to Internet radio, however, there are few things you can do to avoid these problems.
First, check the settings of your radio player, such as iTunes. You should find a setting relating to buffer size. Internet radio stations download the first segment of music to your computer before beginning to play, known as buffering. Setting a higher buffer size will cause your stations to take longer to start up, but it should help with gaps and silences. Setting a lower buffer size will allow your station to start up immediately when you turn it on, but is only recommended for users with fast connections.
Now that you're streaming Internet radio without hiccups and silences, you might be wondering why the sound quality is so awful. Unfortunately, fixing this problem will also generally require a fast, stable Internet connection. The sound quality of a station generally depends on the bit rate at which it broadcasts. Stations generally broadcast at a fixed bit rate, though some popular stations offer a few different bit rates to choose from. A bit rate below 128 kbps can sound garbled. Bit rates of 256 kbps or more will be indistinguishable from CDs to the untrained ear, and they should be enjoyable for all but the most staunch audiophiles.
Any of the above problems, particularly gaps in playback, can sometimes be due to the station itself. Smaller, lower-budget stations usually run on smaller, slower servers that aren't capable of handling a large listener base. If your Internet connection and software settings are up to par and you still experience problems, it's probably best to just find a new station.