Intro

Alive streaming requires ii things: powerful hardware and a adept net upload speed.

You can detect 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 start calling your Internet access provider to inquire about more bandwidth, yous need to know what a skilful upload speed for streaming is. Unfortunately, there's no straightforward reply to this question.

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

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

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

Not a groovy answer, right? There are some mostly accepted values for good upload speeds, which are worth knowing. Simply we'll also dig a bit deeper to find a good upload speed for your particular live stream needs.

🤓 Understanding download/upload speeds

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

People consume content online. They seek information technology out, identify it, and then read, listen, or lookout man it. To be able to do that, their devices need to ingest data, which comes to them in the course of bits. Your internet connexion's download rate shows you how many $.25 of data your computer or device tin can have in from the internet using that connection. Usually, the rate (also referred to equally bitrate) is expressed in millions of bits — or megabits — per second (Mbps).

Information technology's your connection's upload rate that matters the most.

When you create content and want to share it online, it's your connectedness's upload rate that matters the most. Information technology's the same as the download charge per unit; it just works the other way effectually, showing how many bits of information you lot tin 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 skilful upload speed for streaming?

Streaming alive video tin take up a lot of bandwidth. Merely how much will depend on several factors. Encoding matters, but so does the type of content you desire to stream. Platforms play a role, as do the resolution (expressed in pixels, or p) and the frame charge per unit (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 Alive, and Twitch. Since all these platforms support alive streaming video resolution of 720p, we'll utilize the bitrate recommendations from each platform:

  • Facebook Alive recommends a max bitrate of 4,000 kbps, plus a max audio 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 2,500 and 4,000 kbps for video, plus upwards to 160 kbps for audio.

If y'all're streaming live video at a resolution of 720p, at xxx frames per second, you lot volition upload upwardly to 4,160 kilobits, or iv.16 Mbps, of data per second. And then having an upload bandwidth of around 4 Mbps should encompass yous, correct?

Not quite. Y'all will demand to upload upward to 4,160 kilobits of data per second constantly. Considering these speeds fluctuate, it's a good idea to accept a 35% to twoscore% buffer. That puts us at an upload charge per unit of effectually 5,700 kilobits per second, or 5.7 Mbps. However, if yous are sure your cyberspace connection is stable, such a buffer might not exist needed. Call back, a stable connection is as of import every bit upload speed!

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

For various reasons, your ISP's declared upload bandwidth and the actual upload speed you lot can attain with your connection tin be very dissimilar. That'south why you should always exam your upload speed using online speed tests. The number y'all become from these tests should be upwards to v.7 Mbps if you want to stream 720p video at 30 frames per second.

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

💁‍♂️ The many variables affecting upload speed requirements

The 5.7 Mbps upload speed for 720p video at thirty frames per second is the upper limit. You can nonetheless live stream 720p video with a lower upload speed. If the whole video is a unmarried shot of you talking, four,000 kbps might exist too loftier of a bitrate. You would probably be fine if you reduced it past half.

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

Allow'southward stay with video games. If yous're streaming games with fast-paced action, you should ensure that your viewers meet what'southward going on equally clearly equally possible. You might desire to stream at more thirty frames per second.

However, more than 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 two,250 to 6,000 Kbps. When you lot gene in these requirements, that's a half dozen.2 Mbps upload speed for Twitch and 7.4 Mbps for YouTube Live if you lot want to stream 720p video at lx frames per 2d. Besides, keep in heed 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, beginning streamers tin can only stream up to 720p video, so at that place'southward no demand 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 upward to 1080p video at 60 frames per second. You'll demand an upload speed of upwardly to seven.4 Mbps to back up that.

YouTube Alive supports 4k alive streaming at threescore frames per second. Information technology recommends a bitrate in the range of 20,000 to 51,000 kbps. You'd need an upload speed of 68.viii Mbps to pull that off. That'south merely above the average upload speed in the District of Columbia, the expanse with the highest median upload speed in the Usa.

Finally, your competitors might affect 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. Better quality requires higher upload speeds, then the competition volition somewhen push yous to increase your upload charge per unit.

🤩 What upload speeds should I be aiming for?

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

Which bitrates and respective upload rates practise the three major streaming platforms advise streamers to use? We'll segment past platform, resolution, and frames per second, where applicative.

Facebook Alive:

  • 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 2nd. Aim for an upload speed of 6 to 7 Mbps (although Facebook limits well-nigh 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 thirty frames per second, bitrate should be betwixt 2,500 and 4,000 kbps. That requires upload speeds between three.2 Mbps and 5 Mbps.
  • For 720p video at 60 frames per second, the bitrate should exist betwixt 3,500 and v,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are betwixt 4.4 Mbps and 6.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per 2d, the bitrate should exist 3,500 to five,000 kbps – same as for 720p video at threescore fps. The required upload speeds are the same besides, between 4.four Mbps and 6.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the recommended bitrate is betwixt 4500 and 6000 kbps. The required upload speeds are between 5.6 Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.

YouTube:

  • For 720p video at 30 frames per second, the range is i,500 to 4,000 kbps. That's an upload speed betwixt roughly 2 Mbps and 5 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.four Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at thirty frames per 2nd, the bitrate range is 3,000 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 3.viii Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 60 frames per second, the bitrate range is 4,500 to ix,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that means betwixt 5.vi Mbps and 11 Mbps.
  • For 1440p video at xxx frames per second, the bitrate range is six,000 to thirteen,000 kbps. That's between 7.4 Mbps and 15.8 Mbps in recommended upload speeds.
  • For 1440p video at 60 frames per second, the range is 9,000 to 18,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that's between 11 Mbps and 21.8 Mbps.
  • If you really want to live stream 4k video, doing information technology at xxx frames per second will require a bitrate between 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 twenty,000 to 51,000 kbps. You'll need an upload speed between 24.ii Mbps and 61.5 Mbps.

As y'all can meet, YouTube offers the highest-quality live streaming. Facebook is the most accessible, while Twitch is nonetheless the gamer's 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 thing, but getting access to that speed is something completely different.

The upload speed y'all can attain depends on the service packages your Internet service provider offers. For residential users, the download speed will ever be higher than the upload speed. The best way to get symmetry between the 2 is to sign up for a business concern-level service if possible. It will guarantee you the Internet access provider's declared upload speed at any fourth dimension. This, in turn, provides stability and reliability to ensure polish 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 net are bringing higher 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 Internet access provider that offers the speed y'all need. Exist prepared to pay more for more speed, though. Also, make sure you ask around well-nigh the quality of their service.

If you're stuck with a provider that offers suboptimal speeds, you can yet practise a couple of things to meliorate 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. Simply when live streaming, a wired connectedness with an ethernet cable is better. It gives y'all less interference and more stability, which leads to improve stream quality.
  • Remove excess devices from your network. You don't desire your internet connection to exist crowded when you commencement streaming. Don't allow any other device hog your upload speed, and disconnect them from your network or plow off their WiFi capabilities during your stream.
  • Close excess programs and apps on your computer. The but thing that should be uploading when you stream is your encoder. Peer-to-peer networking has probably ruined its fair share of live streams, so wait until y'all'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. It helps achieve new audiences, saves fourth dimension, and offers great tools from diverse platforms. Unfortunately, it tin can too exist demanding on your CPU and bandwidth. To deal with it, employ a cloud-based multistreaming service to deport some of that load.
  • Remove malware; employ ad blockers and privacy tools. Malware, ads, and online tracking can use up some of your upload bandwidth. Remove, stop, or block any of these speed-leeching undesired programs.
  • Use up-to-date software and hardware. Sometime drivers can slow your computer down, and old modems can clogging 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, y'all 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 equally if they were regular streams. With this method, your upload speed doesn't thing. Later you upload your video, Restream will broadcast information technology at the scheduled time automatically, so yous don't even have to exist online.

Larn more 👉 Restream Events: Everything you need to know

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

restream

Multiply your views and date

Reach a wider audience by streaming to multiple platforms simultaneously.

Go Started

Conclusion

Equally a alive video streamer, the quality of your content volition depend on the quality of your circulate. That'due south a fact. Y'all tin accept the best skills in the most pop games, or the best banter, or the greatest humor. But if people can't run across and hear you lot well, they're not going to stick around to watch your stream.

Upload speeds can significantly impact the quality of your broadcasts. Utilize a connexion with plenty upload speed for the type of content you broadcast.

Remember, y'all shouldn't get for the highest possible upload speed by default. You merely need information technology if you lot're planning to stream at a very loftier bitrate. A good upload speed is the one that's appropriate for your goals.