diff --git a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/service/FeedMediaSizeService.java b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/service/FeedMediaSizeService.java
index b4542aae8..1f7dfa386 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/service/FeedMediaSizeService.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/service/FeedMediaSizeService.java
@@ -30,13 +30,20 @@ public class FeedMediaSizeService extends IntentService {
         }
         List<FeedMedia> list = DBReader.getFeedMediaUnknownSize(this);
         for (FeedMedia media : list) {
-            long size = -1;
+            if(false == NetworkUtils.networkAvailable(this)) {
+                return;
+            }
+            long size = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
+            Log.d(TAG, media.getDownload_url());
             try {
                 URL url = new URL(media.getDownload_url());
                 HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
+                conn.setRequestProperty( "Accept-Encoding", "" );
+                conn.setRequestMethod("HEAD");
                 size = conn.getContentLength();
                 conn.disconnect();
             } catch (IOException e) {
+                Log.d(TAG, media.getDownload_url());
                 e.printStackTrace();
             }
             media.setSize(size);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/DBReader.java b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/DBReader.java
index 1af0fa0a9..26a974616 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/DBReader.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/DBReader.java
@@ -551,11 +551,11 @@ public final class DBReader {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Loads the IDs of the FeedItems whose 'read'-attribute is set to false.
+     * Loads FeedMedia whose file size is unknown
      *
      * @param context A context that is used for opening a database connection.
-     * @return A list of IDs of the FeedItems whose 'read'-attribute is set to false. This method should be preferred
-     * over {@link #getUnreadItemsList(android.content.Context)} if the FeedItems in the UnreadItems list are not used.
+     * @return A list of FeedMedia items whose size is 0 (unknown and never tried to
+     * determine the correct size)
      */
     public static List<FeedMedia> getFeedMediaUnknownSize(Context context) {
         PodDBAdapter adapter = new PodDBAdapter(context);
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/PodDBAdapter.java b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/PodDBAdapter.java
index d42b67459..319987cb2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/PodDBAdapter.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/storage/PodDBAdapter.java
@@ -1108,7 +1108,7 @@ public class PodDBAdapter {
     public final Cursor getFeedMediaUnknownSizeCursor() {
         final String query = "SELECT * "
                 + " FROM " + TABLE_NAME_FEED_MEDIA
-                + " WHERE " + KEY_SIZE + "=0";
+                + " WHERE " + KEY_SIZE + ">" + Integer.MIN_VALUE;
         return db.rawQuery(query, null);
     }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/syndication/namespace/NSRSS20.java b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/syndication/namespace/NSRSS20.java
index 6455332be..31eb2efd6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/syndication/namespace/NSRSS20.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/de/danoeh/antennapod/core/syndication/namespace/NSRSS20.java
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ public class NSRSS20 extends Namespace {
 				long size = 0;
 				try {
 					size = Long.parseLong(attributes.getValue(ENC_LEN));
+					if(size < 16384) {
+						// less than 16kb is suspicious, check manually
+						size = 0;
+					}
 				} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
 					if (BuildConfig.DEBUG)
 						Log.d(TAG, "Length attribute could not be parsed.");