Intro

Live streaming requires two things: powerful hardware and a skilful internet upload speed.

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

Before you beginning calling your Internet access provider to ask about more bandwidth, you lot need to know what a good upload speed for streaming is. Unfortunately, there's no straightforward answer to this question.

A skilful upload speed allows y'all to stream the content yous want to the platform of your choice without any major issues. It should too be capable of delivering your content at a quality that volition not disadvantage you or make your stream less highly-seasoned than others.

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

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

Non a great answer, right? At that place are some generally accepted values for adept upload speeds, which are worth knowing. Merely we'll also dig a bit deeper to find a good upload speed for your particular live stream needs.

🤓 Understanding download/upload speeds

What do yous retrieve people do the most online? We know that the well-nigh popular website in the globe is Google. It'southward followed by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia. So that'due south ane search engine, an encyclopedia, ii social networks, and a video platform/social network.

People consume content online. They seek information technology out, identify information technology, and then read, listen, or watch it. To be able to do that, their devices need to ingest data, which comes to them in the form of $.25. Your net connectedness'south download rate shows you how many $.25 of data your computer or device tin take in from the internet using that connection. Commonly, the rate (also referred to as bitrate) is expressed in millions of bits — or megabits — per second (Mbps).

It'due south your connectedness's upload rate that matters the well-nigh.

When you create content and want to share information technology online, information technology's your connection's upload rate that matters the near. It'southward the same as the download rate; it merely works the other way around, showing how many $.25 of data you can share per 2d. 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 tin take up a lot of bandwidth. Simply how much volition depend on several factors. Encoding matters, but so does the type of content you lot desire to stream. Platforms play a part, every bit do the resolution (expressed in pixels, or p) and the frame rate (frames per second, or fps) of your stream.

Say yous want to live stream a video of yourself interviewing someone. Y'all're choosing betwixt Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Twitch. Since all these platforms support live streaming video resolution of 720p, we'll apply 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 1,500 and iv,000 kbps for video, plus 128 kbps for sound.
  • Twitch recommends a range between 2,500 and four,000 kbps for video, plus upwards to 160 kbps for audio.

If y'all're streaming live video at a resolution of 720p, at 30 frames per second, y'all will upload up to 4,160 kilobits, or 4.16 Mbps, of information per 2nd. So having an upload bandwidth of effectually 4 Mbps should embrace you, right?

Not quite. You will need to upload upward to 4,160 kilobits of information per 2nd constantly. Because these speeds fluctuate, information technology's a skillful thought to have a 35% to 40% buffer. That puts united states of america at an upload rate of around 5,700 kilobits per second, or v.seven Mbps. However, if you are sure your cyberspace connection is stable, such a buffer might not exist needed. Recall, a stable connection is as important as upload speed!

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

For various reasons, your ISP's alleged upload bandwidth and the actual upload speed you lot can achieve with your connectedness can exist very different. That'southward why you should always exam your upload speed using online speed tests. The number you lot get from these tests should be upwards to five.seven Mbps if y'all desire to stream 720p video at 30 frames per second.

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

💁‍♂️ The many variables affecting upload speed requirements

The 5.vii Mbps upload speed for 720p video at 30 frames per second is the upper limit. You can still live stream 720p video with a lower upload speed. If the whole video is a single shot of y'all talking, iv,000 kbps might exist too high of a bitrate. You would probably be fine if yous reduced information technology by half.

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

Let's stay with video games. If yous're streaming games with fast-paced action, you should ensure that your viewers come across what's going on as clearly as possible. You might want to stream at more xxx frames per second.

However, 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 ii,250 to 6,000 Kbps. When you factor in these requirements, that's a 6.2 Mbps upload speed for Twitch and seven.4 Mbps for YouTube Alive if you desire to stream 720p video at 60 frames per second. Also, proceed in listen that these are simply the highest optimal values.

A practiced upload speed for your live streaming will vary from i platform to another.

On Facebook, beginning streamers tin can only stream up to 720p video, so in that location's no need to have more than five Mbps. In order to live stream Full Hard disk videos, you need to use for their Level Up affiliate program.

Twitch allows up to 1080p video at lx frames per 2nd. You'll need an upload speed of up to 7.iv Mbps to back up that.

YouTube Live supports 4k alive streaming at sixty frames per second. It recommends a bitrate in the range of 20,000 to 51,000 kbps. Y'all'd demand an upload speed of 68.8 Mbps to pull that off. That's simply above the average upload speed in the District of Columbia, the area with the highest median upload speed in the United states of america.

Finally, your competitors might impact your upload speed requirements. Twitch and YouTube are crowded with streamers trying to utilise the platforms to generate income. If you lot're streaming too, you cannot afford to autumn behind on video quality. Better quality requires higher upload speeds, then the contest will eventually button you 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 "proficient" upload speed is. Instead, it's better to ask which speed y'all should aim for in your circumstances.

Which bitrates and respective upload rates do the three major streaming platforms advise streamers to apply? 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 up to 128 kbps.
  • Maximum resolution is 1080p, with 60 frames reproduced per second. Aim for an upload speed of vi to 7 Mbps (although Facebook limits most accounts to 720p resolution).
  • For 720p video at 30 or 60 frames per 2nd, aim for an upload speed of roughly 3 to 4 Mbps.

Twitch:

  • For 720p video at thirty frames per second, bitrate should be between 2,500 and 4,000 kbps. That requires upload speeds between three.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 between 4.4 Mbps and 6.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per 2nd, the bitrate should be 3,500 to 5,000 kbps – same as for 720p video at 60 fps. The required upload speeds are the same also, between 4.4 Mbps and vi.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the recommended bitrate is between 4500 and 6000 kbps. The required upload speeds are between 5.six Mbps and 7.four Mbps.

YouTube:

  • For 720p video at 30 frames per second, the range is ane,500 to 4,000 kbps. That's an upload speed between roughly ii Mbps and five Mbps.
  • For 720p video at lx frames per second, the range is 2,250 to six,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 2.nine Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per second, the bitrate range is 3,000 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are betwixt 3.8 Mbps and 7.four Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at threescore frames per second, the bitrate range is four,500 to 9,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that means between 5.6 Mbps and 11 Mbps.
  • For 1440p video at xxx frames per 2d, the bitrate range is 6,000 to 13,000 kbps. That's betwixt 7.four Mbps and 15.eight Mbps in recommended upload speeds.
  • For 1440p video at threescore frames per second, the range is nine,000 to 18,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that'due south between 11 Mbps and 21.viii Mbps.
  • If yous really want to live stream 4k video, doing information technology at 30 frames per 2d will require a bitrate betwixt thirteen,000 and 34,000 kbps. In terms of upload speed, that'south 15.8 Mbps and 41 Mbps.
  • To stream 4k video at threescore frames per second, the recommended bitrate range is 20,000 to 51,000 kbps. Y'all'll demand an upload speed between 24.2 Mbps and 61.5 Mbps.

As yous can see, YouTube offers the highest-quality live streaming. Facebook is the near accessible, while Twitch is all the same 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

Computing your desired upload speed is one thing, but getting access to that speed is something completely unlike.

The upload speed y'all 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 manner to get symmetry betwixt the two is to sign up for a business organisation-level service if possible. It will guarantee you the ISP'southward declared upload speed at any time. This, in turn, provides stability and reliability to ensure shine alive streams.

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

So, the get-go pace in obtaining a adept upload speed for streaming is to switch to an ISP that offers the speed you demand. Exist prepared to pay more than for more speed, though. Also, brand sure you lot ask around about the quality of their service.

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

  • Get a wired connection. Your WiFi might be great when it comes to watching YouTube videos on your smartphone or checking social media. Only when live streaming, a wired connection with an ethernet cable is improve. It gives you less interference and more stability, which leads to better stream quality.
  • Remove excess devices from your network. Yous don't want your internet connection to exist crowded when you starting time streaming. Don't allow any other device pig your upload speed, and disconnect them from your network or turn off their WiFi capabilities during your stream.
  • Shut backlog programs and apps on your computer. The simply affair that should be uploading when y'all stream is your encoder. Peer-to-peer networking has probably ruined its fair share of live streams, so expect until you're off the air.
  • Use cloud-based multistreaming. Multistreaming, or streaming alive to several platforms at the same fourth dimension, is incredibly useful for content creators. Information technology helps reach new audiences, saves time, and offers great tools from various platforms. Unfortunately, it can also be demanding on your CPU and bandwidth. To deal with it, utilize a deject-based multistreaming service to bear some of that load.
  • Remove malware; apply ad blockers and privacy tools. Malware, ads, and online tracking can employ up some of your upload bandwidth. Remove, stop, or block any of these speed-leeching undesired programs.
  • Use upwardly-to-date software and hardware. Old drivers can slow your computer down, and old modems tin can bottleneck your upload speed. Make certain your hardware and software are up to the task of streaming alive video.

🔥 How to stream with a depression upload speed

With Restream Events, you can bypass the upload speed inconveniences. How? Our feature allows yous to upload your pre-recorded videos, schedule them, and fix 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 circulate it at the scheduled time automatically, so you don't even have to be online.

Learn more 👉 Restream Events: Everything yous need to know

Bonus tip: Thanks to our multistreaming technology, yous can schedule and live stream your pre-recorded content to summit platforms, similar YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and more than, all at the same time.

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Conclusion

As a live video streamer, the quality of your content will depend on the quality of your broadcast. That's a fact. Y'all can have the best skills in the almost popular games, or the best banter, or the greatest sense of humor. Only if people can't see and hear you well, they're not going to stick around to lookout your stream.

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

Recall, you shouldn't become for the highest possible upload speed past default. You only demand it if yous're planning to stream at a very high bitrate. A good upload speed is the i that'due south appropriate for your goals.