Proxy apparatus and method for streaming media information and for increasing the quality of stored media information

A method, comprising:

• receiving, at a gateway proxy device, a first version of media information from a media server, the first version of the media information being encoded for transmission at a first bandwidth;
• identifying multiple versions of the media information from a meta tag, the multiple versions including at least the first version and a second version;
• requesting the second version of the media information from the media server, the second version of the media information being encoded for transmission at a second bandwidth, wherein the second bandwidth is greater than the first bandwidth;
• receiving, at the gateway proxy device, a request from a user device for the media information, the user device having a user device connection;
• determining a user bandwidth for the user device connection;
• streaming, from the gateway proxy device, the first version of the media information when the user bandwidth is greater than or equal to the first bandwidth but less than the second bandwidth;
• and
• streaming, from the gateway proxy device, the second version of the media information when the user bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second bandwidth.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, from a user device having a user device connection to a gateway proxy device, a request for media information;
• identifying multiple versions of the media information from a meta-tag, the multiple versions including at least a first version and a second version;
• determining a user bandwidth of the user device connection;
• streaming, from the gateway proxy device, the first version of the media information when the user bandwidth is greater than or equal to a first bandwidth but less than a second bandwidth, the first version of the media information being encoded for transmission at the first bandwidth;
• streaming, from the gateway proxy device, the second version of the media information when the user bandwidth is greater than or equal to the second bandwidth, the second version of the media information being encoded for transmission at the second bandwidth and the second bandwidth being greater than the first bandwidth;
• and
• storing at least one of the first version and the second version of the media information at the gateway proxy device.

A network server comprising:

• a memory that stores instructions;
• a processor that executes the instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• receiving a first version of media information from a media server in response to a determination that a user device is unable to receive a second version of the media information configured to be transmitted at a first bandwidth;
• and
• streaming the first version of the media information at a second bandwidth that differs from the first bandwidth to the user device, wherein the first version of the media information is transmitted from the media server to the network server in response to a meta tag that identifies versions of the media information that are present on the media server.