What Upload Speeds Are Needed for Good Streaming Quality
How Much Speed Do You lot Demand for Live Video Game Streaming?
Jan 24, 2022 Share
FAQ, Gaming, Internet Speed Guides, Streaming Guides
Watching other people play video games is almost as popular as playing them yourself. And people aren't merely watching big-name net celebrities either. Twitch, the most popular game streaming platform, has over four 1000000 unique creators streaming every calendar month.1 If y'all like sharing your gaming experiences with the world, you could exist one of them.
One of the keys to a successful stream is an net connexion that can handle the video (like cobweb). No one wants to spend time and coin getting your lights and camera simply right only for your internet connection to reduce your stream to a choppy, pixelated mess.
Merely not to worry! Nosotros're hither to walk you through everything you need to know about internet speeds and alive video game streaming and then y'all can get your stream just correct.
Use your nix code to see if fiber internet is available in your surface area.
Livestreaming is all about upload speed
Livestreaming is i of the few situations when download speed (the speed your internet plan typically advertises) doesn't really matter. All y'all have to worry about is your upload speed. Yous can acquire more almost the departure between download and upload speed hither.
Need a connection with more upload speed? Encounter what's bachelor in your expanse.
When you lot're livestreaming, video captured from your device is sent, or uploaded, from your home to video servers somewhere on the internet. This is the opposite management that video data usually flows since most people consume more than online video content than they create.
One more time: download speed doesn't matter for livestreaming.
Upload speed is oftentimes a scrap more than difficult to judge because most internet service providers (ISPs) don't annunciate information technology as prominently equally they practice download speeds (your "advertised" speed refers to your download speed). For most kinds of cyberspace connection, your upload speed will exist much lower than your download speed. Upload speed tin can besides fluctuate, so the easiest way to find your bodily upload speed is to take a speed exam. If you want an upload speed that can match your download speed, your best bet is cobweb.
Get your upload speed: Desire to detect out what upload and download speed y'all're currently getting? Have our speed exam.
That said, there are however enough of online activities that require a good download speed. If you're playing a game online or streaming royalty-complimentary music while you're on stream, yous need to make sure you have enough download speed to ensure a shine experience. Nevertheless, the but number y'all demand to worry most for getting your stream online is your upload speed.
Upload speed requirements for livestreaming across video platforms
We recommend having a minimum upload speed of 10 Mbps for livestreaming. On about platforms, this will give you a slight buffer to account for fluctuations in upload speed.
Different streaming platforms have different requirements when it comes to video quality. Some are optimized and so that you tin broadcast low-resolution video from your cell telephone whenever you desire, while others try to make it possible for viewers to tune in to TV-quality streams. While you tin can technically stream as long as yous come across the minimum requirements, yous should always plan to have at least an actress 5 Mbps to account for fluctuations in speed.
Here'southward the breakdown of how much upload speed you'll demand to livestream on different platforms.
Twitch
Twitch is the biggest site for video game streaming, then if y'all desire to be a streamer, you should be able to stream on Twitch. Fortunately, it gives streamers a few different recommendations for resolution and frame rate.
For context, 30 frames per second (fps) is the standard frame rate for idiot box, while 60 fps is a mutual framerate in video games. But like resolution, frame rate affects the amount of speed y'all need to stream, and then if you don't have the fastest connectedness, you might have to brand a merchandise-off.
Facebook Live
Facebook keeps it uncomplicated, listing only the absolute minimum requirements for streaming on the platform. Only that's non to say you tin can't achieve a decent video quality with Facebook.
Although y'all can start a livestream on Facebook with zippo more than your phone and the Facebook app, Facebook Live is also compatible with standard streaming software like OBS Studio, Streamlabs OBS, and vMix.
YouTube
YouTube has a staggering amount of recommendations, ranging from a 240p stream (which is the resolution of an old Nokia cell phone or a Game Boy Accelerate) to streaming in full 4K UHD.2, iii Nosotros'd recommend shooting for somewhere in the middle. Plenty of professional streamers stream at 1080p, and that'south a high enough resolution to look skilful on everything from cell phones to Tv set screens.
You demand extra cyberspace speed for a stable video stream
Nosotros suggest that you lot try to have 10–15 Mbps more upload speed than the minimum requirement for the quality of video you're trying to stream and even more if you know that your connection has regular issues with slowdown.
Another skillful rule of thumb is to accept twice as much upload speed as whatever you prepare your bitrate to be, only to exist safe. Not all your viewers volition notice the subtle departure between 30 and sixty fps, but everyone volition notice if your stream starts freezing and stuttering.
If yous just barely encounter the speed requirements for the video you're trying to stream, the slightest fluctuation in your connexion can interfere with or even crash your stream. That'due south because livestreaming is a lot trickier than streaming video from Netflix. Since your stream isn't prerecorded, the server can't buffer to smooth out the normal ups and downs in net speed.
Too, call back that if y'all're streaming to multiple platforms simultaneously, you need enough total bandwidth that each stream has plenty of upload speed. For example, if yous're streaming 1080p video to both Twitch (6 Mbps minimum) and YouTube (3 Mbps minimum), you'd need an upload speed of at least ix Mbps, though realistically, you'd demand 15–20 Mbps to go along both streams stable.
Why is a stable video stream so important?
Livestreaming is much more technologically demanding than just playing games. Most online games tin get by on a pretty modest internet connection, as long as there's low latency. Livestreaming turns your home into your own personal Idiot box station, broadcasting high-resolution video to your fans.
To grow an gorging fan base on a platform like Twitch, you need to deliver a quality experience. A reliable camera, good audio equipment, and a fancy gaming computer are all of import investments for any dedicated streamer, but none of that makes much of a deviation to those watching if your stream freezes and staggers throughout the broadcast.
A reliable net connexion is one of the start investments an aspiring streamer should make.
What type of internet is best for livestreaming?
The best internet connection for livestreaming is fiber. To livestream, you lot demand a reliable connection with skillful upload speeds and low latency. In all three of those categories, fiber-optic connections are by far the best option. If fiber isn't available in your expanse, you lot probably want to go with a wired connection, as wireless connections tend to exist more than susceptible to interference and generally feel higher latency.
DSL and satellite connections more often than not aren't fast or stable enough for streamers, then you're probably going to need either cablevision or cobweb internet.
Cable connections tin reach upload speeds between v Mbps and l Mbps, and so the best cablevision plans tin handle HD streaming, but slower connections will exist lucky to evangelize anything in a higher place Game Male child quality. Cable is also decumbent to slowing down at peak hours, so unless you lot stream in the center of the night, you lot might accept to programme effectually the inevitable driblet in speed.
Cobweb, on the other hand, has symmetrical upload and download speeds, which ways if you lot have gigabit download speeds, y'all become the exact aforementioned speeds for your uploads. Cobweb is also a much more stable connexion and doesn't suffer from the same kind of slowing problems that cable has to deal with. All these factors make fiber the ideal connexion for streamers.
For more than information, check out our page on fiber providers.
How does latency affect livestreaming?
Latency is the fourth dimension it takes for a signal to travel from your computer to a server on the internet. It essentially determines the reaction fourth dimension of your net connection. Having high latency will crusade lag in games or calls, delaying your reactions and causing problems.
Because streaming is primarily i-way advice, latency is handled a bit differently than it is in a video call. Streaming software usually performs more encoding and compression on your video (though you lot tin can suit this in your settings) in club to improve the final quality at the expense of a few seconds of delay. This isn't usually noticeable to your audience unless yous're streaming a Q&A session or a alive consequence.
One important precaution for streamers to take is to use a wired connectedness to your router instead of Wi-Fi when possible. Fifty-fifty fast, reliable Wi-Fi introduces a fleck of extra latency into your connection, and so a wired connection is definitely preferable. If you don't already accept one, get yourself an Ethernet cable.
Why am I still getting dropped frames?
Exercise yous have a solid cyberspace connexion but your video still looks choppy? Video game streams often endure from dropped frames, where instead of the video playing smoothly from one frame to the next, the same frame will play twice in a row and then skip forward. If enough frames are dropped, it can lead to jittery, uneven video.
Although a slow or unstable internet connection can cause a stream to drib frames, dropped frames are ofttimes a trouble with your capture card. If your capture card tin can't record and encode your video data fast enough to keep up with your framerate, the effect is dropped frames in your stream.
Before y'all fork out the coin to upgrade to a better capture card, there are a few things you can effort. First, check your internet speed to make certain y'all're getting the upload speed you think you are. As well, make sure that you're plugged into your router and non relying on Wi-Fi.
If you try those things and are sure that it's not your connectedness, endeavour adjusting the settings in your streaming software, lowering your bitrate. You can also endeavor updating your computer's network drivers.
- Twitch, "Printing Middle," Accessed Oct five, 2020.
- Nokia Museum, "Nokia Asha 301," Accessed October 5, 2020.
- CNET, "Nintendo Game Boy Advance Specs," Accessed Oct v, 2020
Author - Peter Christiansen
Peter Christiansen writes most satellite cyberspace, rural connectivity, livestreaming, and parental controls for HighSpeedInternet.com. Peter holds a PhD in advice from the University of Utah and has been working in tech for over 15 years as a figurer programmer, game programmer, filmmaker, and writer. His writing has been praised by outlets like Wired, Digital Humanities Now, and the New Statesman.
Editor - Cara Haynes
Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for seven years, and she's edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet.com for five years. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. When she's non editing, she makes tech attainable through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a good internet connexion significantly extends your life bridge.
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