Intro

Live streaming requires ii things: powerful hardware and a good internet upload speed.

You can find hardware that handles encoding for live video (and playing video games simultaneously) in a smartphone or a decent computer. Getting a good upload speed for streaming is trickier.

Before you first calling your ISP to inquire about more bandwidth, y'all need to know what a good upload speed for streaming is. Unfortunately, there's no straightforward answer to this question.

A good upload speed allows y'all to stream the content you want to the platform of your pick without any major problems. It should also be capable of delivering your content at a quality that will not disadvantage you or make your stream less appealing than others.

Basically, anything betwixt 672 kbps and 61.5 Mbps is ideal.

A good upload speed for streaming is between 672 kbps and 61.5 Mbps

Not a great answer, correct? There are some generally accepted values for good upload speeds, which are worth knowing. But we'll also dig a chip deeper to find a good upload speed for your particular live stream needs.

🤓 Understanding download/upload speeds

What do you think people practise the near online? We know that the most popular website in the world is Google. It'southward followed by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia. So that'due south one search engine, an encyclopedia, 2 social networks, and a video platform/social network.

People consume content online. They seek it out, identify it, and and so read, listen, or lookout man it. To exist able to do that, their devices need to ingest data, which comes to them in the course of bits. Your internet connection'due south download rate shows you how many bits of data your computer or device tin take in from the cyberspace using that connection. Ordinarily, the rate (also referred to as bitrate) is expressed in millions of bits — or megabits — per second (Mbps).

It'southward your connection's upload rate that matters the well-nigh.

When y'all create content and want to share it online, information technology'south your connection's upload rate that matters the most. It's the aforementioned equally the download rate; it just works the other manner around, showing how many bits of data you tin share per second. It's besides expressed in Mbps. Data shows that, globally, upload rates are slower than download rates.

👀 What is a good upload speed for streaming?

Streaming live video tin take up a lot of bandwidth. Simply how much will depend on several factors. Encoding matters, but so does the type of content you desire to stream. Platforms play a part, as do the resolution (expressed in pixels, or p) and the frame rate (frames per second, or fps) of your stream.

Say you want to alive stream a video of yourself interviewing someone. You lot're choosing between Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Twitch. Since all these platforms back up live streaming video resolution of 720p, we'll use the bitrate recommendations from each platform:

  • Facebook Live recommends a max bitrate of 4,000 kbps, plus a max sound bitrate of 128 kbps.
  • YouTube Alive recommends a range between 1,500 and 4,000 kbps for video, plus 128 kbps for sound.
  • Twitch recommends a range between ii,500 and 4,000 kbps for video, plus upwardly to 160 kbps for audio.

If you're streaming live video at a resolution of 720p, at 30 frames per 2d, you will upload up to four,160 kilobits, or 4.16 Mbps, of data per second. And then having an upload bandwidth of around 4 Mbps should cover you, right?

Not quite. You lot will need to upload up to four,160 kilobits of data per second constantly. Because these speeds fluctuate, it's a adept idea to have a 35% to forty% buffer. That puts us at an upload rate of effectually v,700 kilobits per second, or 5.7 Mbps. Notwithstanding, if y'all are certain your cyberspace connection is stable, such a buffer might non be needed. Remember, a stable connectedness is as important equally upload speed!

It's generally a good idea to have a 35% to 40% buffer

For various reasons, your Internet access provider's declared upload bandwidth and the actual upload speed you lot can accomplish with your connexion can exist very different. That's why yous should always test your upload speed using online speed tests. The number you become from these tests should be upward to 5.7 Mbps if y'all want to stream 720p video at xxx frames per second.

Read afterwards: The only multistreaming guide you'll ever need 📍

💁‍♂️ The many variables affecting upload speed requirements

The 5.7 Mbps upload speed for 720p video at 30 frames per second is the upper limit. You lot tin nevertheless live stream 720p video with a lower upload speed. If the whole video is a unmarried shot of you talking, 4,000 kbps might be too high of a bitrate. Y'all would probably be fine if you lot reduced it by half.

If, on the other paw, you want to stream video games or events with tons of visual data, 4,000 kbps is necessary. The faster the step of the visuals, the higher your bitrate should exist. The type of content you stream affects what a good upload speed is for yous.

Allow's stay with video games. If y'all're streaming games with fast-paced activity, you should ensure that your viewers see what'south going on as clearly as possible. Yous might want to stream at more than 30 frames per second.

However, more frames per 2nd requires a college bitrate. For Twitch, it pushes the range for 720p video to between three,500 and 5,000 kbps. YouTube Live recommends 2,250 to six,000 Kbps. When you factor in these requirements, that's a six.2 Mbps upload speed for Twitch and 7.four Mbps for YouTube Alive if you want to stream 720p video at 60 frames per 2nd. Also, keep in listen that these are just the highest optimal values.

A good upload speed for your live streaming will vary from one platform to another.

On Facebook, commencement streamers can only stream up to 720p video, so there's no need to have more than 5 Mbps. In lodge to live stream Full HD videos, yous need to apply for their Level Up affiliate program.

Twitch allows up to 1080p video at lx frames per second. You'll need an upload speed of upwards to seven.4 Mbps to support that.

YouTube Live supports 4k alive streaming at 60 frames per second. It recommends a bitrate in the range of xx,000 to 51,000 kbps. You'd need an upload speed of 68.8 Mbps to pull that off. That'southward just to a higher place the boilerplate upload speed in the Commune of Columbia, the area with the highest median upload speed in the The states.

Finally, your competitors might touch on your upload speed requirements. Twitch and YouTube are crowded with streamers trying to use the platforms to generate income. If you're streaming too, you cannot afford to fall behind on video quality. Ameliorate quality requires higher upload speeds, so the competition volition eventually button you to increase your upload rate.

🤩 What upload speeds should I be aiming for?

With all these variables in heed, you shouldn't ask what a "adept" upload speed is. Instead, information technology'southward ameliorate to ask which speed you should aim for in your circumstances.

Which bitrates and corresponding upload rates exercise the three major streaming platforms advise streamers to utilise? We'll segment by platform, resolution, and frames per second, where applicative.

Facebook Alive:

  • Recommended max bitrate of 4,000 kbps for video.
  • Recommended audio bitrate is up to 128 kbps.
  • Maximum resolution is 1080p, with lx frames reproduced per 2d. Aim for an upload speed of 6 to seven Mbps (although Facebook limits nigh accounts to 720p resolution).
  • For 720p video at xxx or sixty frames per second, aim for an upload speed of roughly 3 to 4 Mbps.

Twitch:

  • For 720p video at 30 frames per second, bitrate should be betwixt 2,500 and iv,000 kbps. That requires upload speeds between 3.2 Mbps and five Mbps.
  • For 720p video at threescore frames per second, the bitrate should be between 3,500 and v,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are betwixt 4.4 Mbps and vi.ii Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd, the bitrate should be iii,500 to 5,000 kbps – same equally for 720p video at 60 fps. The required upload speeds are the aforementioned likewise, between iv.iv Mbps and half-dozen.two Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the recommended bitrate is between 4500 and 6000 kbps. The required upload speeds are betwixt five.6 Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.

YouTube:

  • For 720p video at thirty frames per second, the range is 1,500 to 4,000 kbps. That's an upload speed between roughly 2 Mbps and v Mbps.
  • For 720p video at 60 frames per 2d, the range is 2,250 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 2.9 Mbps and seven.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at thirty frames per second, the bitrate range is iii,000 to vi,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 3.8 Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the bitrate range is 4,500 to 9,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that ways between 5.vi Mbps and 11 Mbps.
  • For 1440p video at thirty frames per second, the bitrate range is 6,000 to xiii,000 kbps. That's between 7.4 Mbps and xv.8 Mbps in recommended upload speeds.
  • For 1440p video at 60 frames per second, the range is 9,000 to xviii,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that's between 11 Mbps and 21.8 Mbps.
  • If you really want to alive stream 4k video, doing it at 30 frames per 2d volition require a bitrate betwixt 13,000 and 34,000 kbps. In terms of upload speed, that's 15.eight Mbps and 41 Mbps.
  • To stream 4k video at 60 frames per second, the recommended bitrate range is 20,000 to 51,000 kbps. You'll need an upload speed between 24.ii Mbps and 61.5 Mbps.

Every bit you lot can run into, YouTube offers the highest-quality live streaming. Facebook is the about accessible, while Twitch is still the gamer's haven.

What is a good upload speed for streaming on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch?

👉 How to become a good upload speed for streaming

Calculating your desired upload speed is 1 affair, but getting admission to that speed is something completely dissimilar.

The upload speed you tin accomplish depends on the service packages your Internet access provider offers. For residential users, the download speed will always be higher than the upload speed. The best mode to get symmetry between the two is to sign upwardly for a business-level service if possible. It volition guarantee you the Isp's declared upload speed at any time. This, in plow, provides stability and reliability to ensure shine live streams.

In terms of sheer speed, the good news is that net connections are becoming faster across the lath. Technologies such as cobweb-optic internet are bringing college speeds to your workplace or home — if fiber is offered in your area, that is.

So, the start step in obtaining a good upload speed for streaming is to switch to an Isp that offers the speed you lot demand. Be prepared to pay more than for more speed, though. Besides, brand sure you lot ask around about the quality of their service.

If you lot're stuck with a provider that offers suboptimal speeds, you lot can still do a couple of things to improve your situation:

  • Become a wired connexion. Your WiFi might exist great when information technology comes to watching YouTube videos on your smartphone or checking social media. Merely when live streaming, a wired connection with an ethernet cable is better. It gives you less interference and more stability, which leads to amend stream quality.
  • Remove excess devices from your network. You lot don't desire your internet connection to be crowded when yous start streaming. Don't permit any other device hog your upload speed, and disconnect them from your network or plow off their WiFi capabilities during your stream.
  • Shut excess programs and apps on your computer. The but thing that should be uploading when yous stream is your encoder. Peer-to-peer networking has probably ruined its fair share of alive streams, and so wait until you're off the air.
  • Apply deject-based multistreaming. Multistreaming, or streaming alive to several platforms at the aforementioned time, is incredibly useful for content creators. It helps attain new audiences, saves time, and offers not bad tools from various platforms. Unfortunately, it tin also be demanding on your CPU and bandwidth. To deal with it, employ a deject-based multistreaming service to acquit some of that load.
  • Remove malware; utilize ad blockers and privacy tools. Malware, ads, and online tracking can utilise upward some of your upload bandwidth. Remove, cease, or block any of these speed-leeching undesired programs.
  • Use up-to-date software and hardware. Old drivers can slow your computer down, and old modems can bottleneck your upload speed. Brand certain your hardware and software are up to the job of streaming live video.

🔥 How to stream with a low upload speed

With Restream Events, you tin can bypass the upload speed inconveniences. How? Our feature allows you to upload your pre-recorded videos, schedule them, and set them to go live later as if they were regular streams. With this method, your upload speed doesn't matter. After yous upload your video, Restream will broadcast information technology at the scheduled time automatically, so you don't even have to be online.

Learn more than 👉 Restream Events: Everything you need to know

Bonus tip: Thanks to our multistreaming technology, yous tin can schedule and alive stream your pre-recorded content to tiptop platforms, like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and more, all at the same time.

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Conclusion

As a live video streamer, the quality of your content volition depend on the quality of your broadcast. That'due south a fact. Yous can take the best skills in the almost popular games, or the best barrack, or the greatest sense of sense of humor. But if people can't see and hear y'all well, they're not going to stick around to lookout man your stream.

Upload speeds tin significantly impact the quality of your broadcasts. Use a connection with enough upload speed for the type of content you lot broadcast.

Call up, yous shouldn't go for the highest possible upload speed by default. Yous only demand it if you're planning to stream at a very high bitrate. A skilful upload speed is the one that's appropriate for your goals.