Intro

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

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

Before you start calling your ISP to inquire nigh more bandwidth, you need to know what a expert upload speed for streaming is. Unfortunately, in that location's no straightforward reply to this question.

A good upload speed allows you to stream the content you desire to the platform of your choice without any major issues. It should also be capable of delivering your content at a quality that will non disadvantage yous or make your stream less appealing than others.

Basically, anything between 672 kbps and 61.v Mbps is platonic.

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

Not a great reply, correct? There are some by and large accepted values for good upload speeds, which are worth knowing. But nosotros'll also dig a bit deeper to discover a good upload speed for your particular live stream needs.

🤓 Understanding download/upload speeds

What practise you remember people practice the most online? We know that the almost popular website in the world is Google. Information technology's followed by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia. So that's 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 watch information technology. To be able to do that, their devices need to ingest data, which comes to them in the form of $.25. Your internet connectedness's download charge per unit shows yous how many bits of data your estimator or device can have in from the internet using that connection. Usually, the rate (too referred to as bitrate) is expressed in millions of bits — or megabits — per 2nd (Mbps).

Information technology'southward your connection'due south upload rate that matters the most.

When you create content and want to share information technology online, it's your connection's upload rate that matters the most. Information technology'due south the aforementioned as the download rate; it just works the other way around, showing how many bits of data you lot can share per 2nd. Information technology's also expressed in Mbps. Data shows that, globally, upload rates are slower than download rates.

👀 What is a proficient upload speed for streaming?

Streaming live video can take up a lot of bandwidth. Just how much will depend on several factors. Encoding matters, simply so does the type of content y'all want to stream. Platforms play a function, as do the resolution (expressed in pixels, or p) and the frame rate (frames per second, or fps) of your stream.

Say you desire to live stream a video of yourself interviewing someone. You'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 Alive recommends a max bitrate of iv,000 kbps, plus a max audio bitrate of 128 kbps.
  • YouTube Live recommends a range betwixt 1,500 and 4,000 kbps for video, plus 128 kbps for audio.
  • Twitch recommends a range betwixt 2,500 and iv,000 kbps for video, plus upward to 160 kbps for audio.

If you're streaming live video at a resolution of 720p, at thirty frames per 2d, y'all will upload upwards to 4,160 kilobits, or 4.xvi Mbps, of data per 2d. So having an upload bandwidth of effectually 4 Mbps should cover you, correct?

Not quite. You will need to upload upwardly to 4,160 kilobits of information per 2d constantly. Because these speeds fluctuate, it's a skilful idea to accept a 35% to xl% buffer. That puts usa at an upload rate of around v,700 kilobits per second, or 5.7 Mbps. Yet, if you are certain your internet connexion is stable, such a buffer might not be needed. Recollect, a stable connectedness is as important equally upload speed!

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

For diverse reasons, your Internet service provider's declared upload bandwidth and the actual upload speed you can achieve with your connexion tin can be very dissimilar. That's why yous should always test your upload speed using online speed tests. The number you lot go from these tests should be up to 5.7 Mbps if you desire to stream 720p video at xxx frames per second.

Read later: The simply multistreaming guide yous'll always demand 📍

💁‍♂️ The many variables affecting upload speed requirements

The 5.7 Mbps upload speed for 720p video at xxx frames per 2d is the upper limit. Y'all can notwithstanding live stream 720p video with a lower upload speed. If the whole video is a single shot of yous talking, 4,000 kbps might exist as well high of a bitrate. You would probably be fine if you lot reduced it past half.

If, on the other manus, y'all want to stream video games or events with tons of visual data, 4,000 kbps is necessary. The faster the pace of the visuals, the higher your bitrate should be. The blazon of content you stream affects what a skilful upload speed is for yous.

Let's stay with video games. If you're streaming games with fast-paced activeness, you should ensure that your viewers run across what'south going on as clearly as possible. Y'all might want to stream at more than 30 frames per 2nd.

However, more frames per 2d requires a college bitrate. For Twitch, it pushes the range for 720p video to between 3,500 and 5,000 kbps. YouTube Live recommends 2,250 to 6,000 Kbps. When yous cistron in these requirements, that's a 6.2 Mbps upload speed for Twitch and 7.iv Mbps for YouTube Live if you lot desire to stream 720p video at 60 frames per second. Besides, go along in mind that these are only the highest optimal values.

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

On Facebook, beginning streamers can only stream up to 720p video, so there's no need to have more than than five Mbps. In club to alive stream Full Hard disk drive videos, you need to apply for their Level Up affiliate program.

Twitch allows upward to 1080p video at 60 frames per 2nd. You lot'll need an upload speed of up to 7.4 Mbps to support that.

YouTube Live supports 4k live streaming at 60 frames per second. It recommends a bitrate in the range of xx,000 to 51,000 kbps. Yous'd need an upload speed of 68.8 Mbps to pull that off. That'due south just above the average upload speed in the District of Columbia, the expanse with the highest median upload speed in the United States.

Finally, your competitors might affect your upload speed requirements. Twitch and YouTube are crowded with streamers trying to apply the platforms to generate income. If you're streaming too, you lot cannot afford to fall backside on video quality. Better quality requires college upload speeds, so the contest will eventually push y'all to increase your upload rate.

🤩 What upload speeds should I be aiming for?

With all these variables in mind, you shouldn't ask what a "good" upload speed is. Instead, it's better to ask which speed yous should aim for in your circumstances.

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

Facebook Live:

  • Recommended max bitrate of 4,000 kbps for video.
  • Recommended audio bitrate is upward to 128 kbps.
  • Maximum resolution is 1080p, with 60 frames reproduced per second. Aim for an upload speed of half dozen to 7 Mbps (although Facebook limits almost accounts to 720p resolution).
  • For 720p video at 30 or 60 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 betwixt 3.2 Mbps and five Mbps.
  • For 720p video at threescore frames per 2nd, the bitrate should be betwixt 3,500 and 5,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 4.four Mbps and half dozen.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at thirty frames per 2nd, the bitrate should be 3,500 to v,000 kbps – same as for 720p video at 60 fps. The required upload speeds are the same too, between 4.iv Mbps and six.ii Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at lx frames per second, the recommended bitrate is betwixt 4500 and 6000 kbps. The required upload speeds are between 5.6 Mbps and vii.four Mbps.

YouTube:

  • For 720p video at xxx frames per second, the range is i,500 to 4,000 kbps. That's an upload speed between roughly 2 Mbps and 5 Mbps.
  • For 720p video at 60 frames per second, the range is 2,250 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are betwixt two.9 Mbps and seven.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per 2d, the bitrate range is 3,000 to six,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between iii.8 Mbps and 7.iv Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the bitrate range is 4,500 to nine,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that means between 5.6 Mbps and 11 Mbps.
  • For 1440p video at thirty frames per 2d, the bitrate range is 6,000 to 13,000 kbps. That'south between vii.4 Mbps and 15.eight Mbps in recommended upload speeds.
  • For 1440p video at sixty frames per 2nd, the range is 9,000 to 18,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that's between xi Mbps and 21.viii Mbps.
  • If you really want to live stream 4k video, doing it at 30 frames per second will require a bitrate betwixt 13,000 and 34,000 kbps. In terms of upload speed, that'southward 15.8 Mbps and 41 Mbps.
  • To stream 4k video at 60 frames per 2d, the recommended bitrate range is 20,000 to 51,000 kbps. You lot'll demand an upload speed betwixt 24.ii Mbps and 61.v Mbps.

Every bit you can see, YouTube offers the highest-quality alive streaming. Facebook is the most attainable, while Twitch is still the gamer's oasis.

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

👉 How to get a proficient upload speed for streaming

Calculating your desired upload speed is one matter, but getting admission to that speed is something completely different.

The upload speed y'all can achieve depends on the service packages your ISP offers. For residential users, the download speed will always exist higher than the upload speed. The best way to go symmetry betwixt the ii is to sign up for a concern-level service if possible. It volition guarantee you the Isp's declared upload speed at any time. This, in turn, provides stability and reliability to ensure shine live streams.

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

So, the first step in obtaining a good upload speed for streaming is to switch to an Internet service provider that offers the speed you need. Be prepared to pay more for more than speed, though. Also, make sure you enquire around about the quality of their service.

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

  • Get a wired connexion. Your WiFi might be smashing when it comes to watching YouTube videos on your smartphone or checking social media. Simply when live streaming, a wired connection with an ethernet cablevision is better. It gives you less interference and more stability, which leads to better stream quality.
  • Remove excess devices from your network. You don't want your internet connexion to exist crowded when you start streaming. Don't permit any other device hog your upload speed, and disconnect them from your network or plough off their WiFi capabilities during your stream.
  • Close excess programs and apps on your calculator. The only thing that should exist uploading when y'all stream is your encoder. Peer-to-peer networking has probably ruined its fair share of live streams, so await until you're off the air.
  • Use deject-based multistreaming. Multistreaming, or streaming alive to several platforms at the same time, is incredibly useful for content creators. It helps achieve new audiences, saves time, and offers great tools from diverse platforms. Unfortunately, information technology can too be demanding on your CPU and bandwidth. To deal with information technology, utilise a deject-based multistreaming service to bear some of that load.
  • Remove malware; utilise ad blockers and privacy tools. Malware, ads, and online tracking can use up some of your upload bandwidth. Remove, end, or block whatever of these speed-leeching undesired programs.
  • Apply up-to-engagement software and hardware. Old drivers can slow your computer downwardly, and erstwhile modems tin bottleneck your upload speed. Brand sure your hardware and software are upwards to the task of streaming live video.

🔥 How to stream with a low upload speed

With Restream Events, you lot tin can bypass the upload speed inconveniences. How? Our characteristic allows you to upload your pre-recorded videos, schedule them, and fix them to become live subsequently as if they were regular streams. With this method, your upload speed doesn't matter. Afterward you upload your video, Restream will circulate it at the scheduled time automatically, and then you lot don't even take to be online.

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

Bonus tip: Thanks to our multistreaming applied science, y'all can schedule and live stream your pre-recorded content to top platforms, similar YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and more than, all at the aforementioned time.

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Decision

As a live video streamer, the quality of your content will depend on the quality of your broadcast. That'south a fact. You can accept the best skills in the most popular games, or the best banter, or the greatest sense of sense of humor. But if people can't see and hear you well, they're non going to stick around to lookout man your stream.

Upload speeds can significantly affect the quality of your broadcasts. Utilise a connection with enough upload speed for the type of content you broadcast.

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