Intro

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

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

Before you lot outset calling your Isp to enquire about more bandwidth, you need to know what a good upload speed for streaming is. Unfortunately, there'due south no straightforward answer to this question.

A good upload speed allows yous to stream the content you desire to the platform of your choice without whatever major bug. It should likewise be capable of delivering your content at a quality that will not disadvantage you or make your stream less appealing than others.

Basically, annihilation between 672 kbps and 61.five Mbps is ideal.

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

Not a bully answer, right? There are some mostly accepted values for good upload speeds, which are worth knowing. Just we'll besides dig a bit deeper to find a skilful upload speed for your particular alive stream needs.

🤓 Understanding download/upload speeds

What do y'all remember people exercise the most online? We know that the most popular website in the globe is Google. It'south followed by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia. So that's 1 search engine, an encyclopedia, two social networks, and a video platform/social network.

People eat content online. They seek it out, identify it, and then read, listen, or sentry it. To be able to do that, their devices need to ingest data, which comes to them in the class of $.25. Your internet connection's download charge per unit shows y'all how many bits of data your figurer or device can have in from the internet using that connectedness. Unremarkably, the rate (also referred to as bitrate) is expressed in millions of bits — or megabits — per second (Mbps).

Information technology'south your connexion's upload rate that matters the nearly.

When you create content and desire to share it online, it'southward your connectedness's upload rate that matters the most. It's the aforementioned as the download charge per unit; information technology just works the other way effectually, showing how many bits of data you can share per second. Information technology's also 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 can have upwardly a lot of bandwidth. Just how much will depend on several factors. Encoding matters, but so does the blazon of content you want to stream. Platforms play a office, as practice the resolution (expressed in pixels, or p) and the frame rate (frames per second, or fps) of your stream.

Say yous desire to alive stream a video of yourself interviewing someone. You're choosing betwixt Facebook Live, YouTube Alive, and Twitch. Since all these platforms support 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 audio bitrate of 128 kbps.
  • YouTube Live recommends a range betwixt one,500 and 4,000 kbps for video, plus 128 kbps for audio.
  • Twitch recommends a range between 2,500 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 upwardly to four,160 kilobits, or 4.16 Mbps, of data per second. Then having an upload bandwidth of effectually four Mbps should cover you, right?

Non quite. You lot will need to upload up to four,160 kilobits of information per second constantly. Because these speeds fluctuate, information technology's a good idea to accept a 35% to 40% buffer. That puts us at an upload rate of around v,700 kilobits per 2nd, or 5.7 Mbps. However, if you are sure your internet connexion is stable, such a buffer might not exist needed. Remember, a stable connexion is as important as 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 can accomplish with your connection can exist very different. That'southward why you should always test your upload speed using online speed tests. The number y'all go from these tests should be upward to five.7 Mbps if yous want to stream 720p video at xxx frames per second.

Read later on: The only multistreaming guide you'll always need 📍

💁‍♂️ The many variables affecting upload speed requirements

The 5.vii Mbps upload speed for 720p video at xxx frames per second is the upper limit. You can nevertheless live stream 720p video with a lower upload speed. If the whole video is a single shot of you talking, 4,000 kbps might be likewise loftier of a bitrate. You would probably be fine if you reduced it past one-half.

If, on the other mitt, you lot desire 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 be. The type of content y'all stream affects what a skillful upload speed is for you.

Allow'due south stay with video games. If you're streaming games with fast-paced activeness, y'all should ensure that your viewers see what'due south going on as clearly every bit possible. You lot might want to stream at more than thirty frames per 2d.

Nonetheless, more frames per second requires a higher 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 you cistron in these requirements, that's a half dozen.2 Mbps upload speed for Twitch and vii.4 Mbps for YouTube Live if you want to stream 720p video at 60 frames per second. Too, keep in listen that these are just the highest optimal values.

A expert upload speed for your live streaming will vary from one platform to some other.

On Facebook, beginning streamers tin can merely stream up to 720p video, so there's no need to have more than 5 Mbps. In order to live stream Full Hd videos, you need to apply for their Level Up affiliate program.

Twitch allows upwards to 1080p video at threescore frames per second. You'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. Y'all'd demand an upload speed of 68.8 Mbps to pull that off. That's just higher up 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 touch your upload speed requirements. Twitch and YouTube are crowded with streamers trying to utilize the platforms to generate income. If you're streaming too, you cannot afford to autumn behind on video quality. Better quality requires higher upload speeds, so the contest will eventually push you to increase your upload rate.

🤩 What upload speeds should I exist aiming for?

With all these variables in listen, y'all shouldn't ask what a "expert" upload speed is. Instead, it's improve to ask which speed y'all should aim for in your circumstances.

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

Facebook Live:

  • Recommended max bitrate of 4,000 kbps for video.
  • Recommended audio bitrate is up to 128 kbps.
  • Maximum resolution is 1080p, with 60 frames reproduced per 2nd. Aim for an upload speed of 6 to seven Mbps (although Facebook limits most accounts to 720p resolution).
  • For 720p video at 30 or sixty frames per second, aim for an upload speed of roughly 3 to 4 Mbps.

Twitch:

  • For 720p video at 30 frames per 2nd, bitrate should exist between 2,500 and 4,000 kbps. That requires upload speeds between 3.two Mbps and five Mbps.
  • For 720p video at threescore frames per second, the bitrate should exist between 3,500 and 5,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 4.4 Mbps and half dozen.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per second, the bitrate should be 3,500 to 5,000 kbps – same as for 720p video at lx fps. The required upload speeds are the same too, between 4.4 Mbps and half-dozen.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at sixty frames per 2nd, the recommended bitrate is betwixt 4500 and 6000 kbps. The required upload speeds are betwixt 5.6 Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.

YouTube:

  • For 720p video at xxx frames per second, the range is 1,500 to 4,000 kbps. That'south an upload speed betwixt roughly ii Mbps and five Mbps.
  • For 720p video at 60 frames per 2nd, the range is 2,250 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between ii.9 Mbps and 7.four Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd, the bitrate range is 3,000 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 3.eight Mbps and seven.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the bitrate range is 4,500 to 9,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that means betwixt 5.6 Mbps and 11 Mbps.
  • For 1440p video at thirty frames per second, the bitrate range is 6,000 to 13,000 kbps. That's between 7.4 Mbps and 15.8 Mbps in recommended upload speeds.
  • For 1440p video at 60 frames per 2nd, the range is ix,000 to eighteen,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that's between 11 Mbps and 21.eight Mbps.
  • If y'all actually want to live stream 4k video, doing it at xxx frames per 2d will require a bitrate betwixt 13,000 and 34,000 kbps. In terms of upload speed, that's 15.viii Mbps and 41 Mbps.
  • To stream 4k video at sixty frames per 2d, the recommended bitrate range is twenty,000 to 51,000 kbps. You'll need an upload speed between 24.2 Mbps and 61.five Mbps.

As yous can see, YouTube offers the highest-quality live streaming. Facebook is the most accessible, while Twitch is still the gamer'southward haven.

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

👉 How to get a good upload speed for streaming

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

The upload speed you lot tin can achieve depends on the service packages your Internet access provider offers. For residential users, the download speed will e'er be college than the upload speed. The all-time mode to get symmetry betwixt the two is to sign up for a business-level service if possible. It will guarantee you the Internet access provider'southward declared upload speed at whatsoever time. This, in turn, provides stability and reliability to ensure smooth live streams.

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

And so, the get-go step in obtaining a good upload speed for streaming is to switch to an ISP that offers the speed you need. Be prepared to pay more than for more speed, though. Besides, make certain you ask around about the quality of their service.

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

  • Become a wired connection. Your WiFi might be neat when it comes to watching YouTube videos on your smartphone or checking social media. But when live streaming, a wired connection with an ethernet cable is better. Information technology gives yous less interference and more than stability, which leads to better stream quality.
  • Remove excess devices from your network. You don't desire your internet connection to be crowded when you start streaming. Don't let whatever other device sus scrofa your upload speed, and disconnect them from your network or plough off their WiFi capabilities during your stream.
  • Close backlog programs and apps on your figurer. The merely thing that should exist uploading when you stream is your encoder. Peer-to-peer networking has probably ruined its fair share of live streams, so wait until you're off the air.
  • Use cloud-based multistreaming. Multistreaming, or streaming live to several platforms at the same time, is incredibly useful for content creators. Information technology helps attain new audiences, saves time, and offers slap-up tools from various platforms. Unfortunately, it can likewise be demanding on your CPU and bandwidth. To deal with it, use a cloud-based multistreaming service to bear some of that load.
  • Remove malware; use ad blockers and privacy tools. Malware, ads, and online tracking can use upward some of your upload bandwidth. Remove, terminate, or block any of these speed-leeching undesired programs.
  • Use up-to-date software and hardware. Old drivers tin dull your reckoner down, and old modems tin bottleneck your upload speed. Make sure your hardware and software are up to the task of streaming live video.

🔥 How to stream with a low upload speed

With Restream Events, you lot 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. Later you upload your video, Restream will broadcast it at the scheduled time automatically, and then you don't even have to be online.

Learn more 👉 Restream Events: Everything you need to know

Bonus tip: Thanks to our multistreaming engineering, you lot can schedule and live stream your pre-recorded content to superlative platforms, like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and more, all at the aforementioned time.

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Decision

Equally a live video streamer, the quality of your content will depend on the quality of your broadcast. That'due south a fact. You tin can have the best skills in the most popular games, or the best banter, or the greatest sense of sense of humor. Just if people can't see and hear yous well, they're not going to stick effectually to scout your stream.

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

Remember, you shouldn't go for the highest possible upload speed past default. You only need it if you're planning to stream at a very loftier bitrate. A good upload speed is the one that's appropriate for your goals.