Intro

Live streaming requires two things: powerful hardware and a good cyberspace upload speed.

You lot can discover hardware that handles encoding for alive video (and playing video games simultaneously) in a smartphone or a decent computer. Getting a skilful upload speed for streaming is trickier.

Before you lot showtime calling your ISP to ask most more bandwidth, you need to know what a good upload speed for streaming is. Unfortunately, in that location's no straightforward answer to this question.

A good upload speed allows you to stream the content yous want to the platform of your choice without any major issues. Information technology 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

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

🤓 Understanding download/upload speeds

What do you think people practise the most online? We know that the most pop website in the world is Google. Information technology's followed by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia. Then that'due south one search engine, an encyclopedia, two social networks, and a video platform/social network.

People consume content online. They seek it out, identify it, and and so read, mind, or watch it. To exist able to do that, their devices need to ingest data, which comes to them in the form of bits. Your cyberspace connexion's download rate shows you how many bits of data your computer or device can accept in from the internet using that connexion. Usually, the charge per unit (likewise referred to equally bitrate) is expressed in millions of bits — or megabits — per second (Mbps).

It'due south your connection'southward upload charge per unit that matters the most.

When you create content and want to share it online, it'due south your connection's upload charge per unit that matters the most. It'south the same equally the download charge per unit; it just works the other style around, showing how many bits of data you can share per 2nd. 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. Just how much will depend on several factors. Encoding matters, simply so does the type of content you want to stream. Platforms play a part, as practise the resolution (expressed in pixels, or p) and the frame rate (frames per second, or fps) of your stream.

Say you lot want to live stream a video of yourself interviewing someone. You're choosing between Facebook Live, YouTube Alive, 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 four,000 kbps, plus a max audio bitrate of 128 kbps.
  • YouTube Live recommends a range between i,500 and 4,000 kbps for video, plus 128 kbps for audio.
  • Twitch recommends a range betwixt ii,500 and four,000 kbps for video, plus upward to 160 kbps for sound.

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

Not quite. You volition need to upload up to iv,160 kilobits of data per second constantly. Because these speeds fluctuate, information technology's a good idea to have a 35% to twoscore% buffer. That puts us at an upload rate of around v,700 kilobits per 2d, or v.seven Mbps. Nevertheless, if you are certain your cyberspace connection is stable, such a buffer might not be needed. Remember, a stable connection is every bit important as 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 y'all can attain with your connection can be very different. That'southward why y'all should e'er examination your upload speed using online speed tests. The number y'all get from these tests should be up to 5.7 Mbps if you desire to stream 720p video at 30 frames per second.

Read later: The just multistreaming guide yous'll ever 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. You can yet 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 too high of a bitrate. You would probably exist 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, four,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 proficient upload speed is for yous.

Allow'due south stay with video games. If you lot're streaming games with fast-paced activeness, you should ensure that your viewers run across what's going on every bit clearly equally possible. Yous might want to stream at more than than 30 frames per second.

However, more than frames per 2d requires a higher bitrate. For Twitch, it pushes the range for 720p video to betwixt 3,500 and 5,000 kbps. YouTube Live recommends 2,250 to 6,000 Kbps. When you factor in these requirements, that's a six.2 Mbps upload speed for Twitch and vii.4 Mbps for YouTube Live if yous want to stream 720p video at lx frames per second. Too, go on in heed that these are just the highest optimal values.

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

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

Twitch allows upwards to 1080p video at 60 frames per second. You'll need an upload speed of up to 7.4 Mbps to back up that.

YouTube Live supports 4k live streaming at lx frames per 2nd. It recommends a bitrate in the range of twenty,000 to 51,000 kbps. Y'all'd need an upload speed of 68.8 Mbps to pull that off. That's just to a higher place the average upload speed in the District of Columbia, the area with the highest median upload speed in the Us.

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 college upload speeds, and so the competition will somewhen push you lot to increment your upload rate.

🤩 What upload speeds should I exist aiming for?

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

Which bitrates and corresponding upload rates do the 3 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 four,000 kbps for video.
  • Recommended audio bitrate is upward to 128 kbps.
  • Maximum resolution is 1080p, with 60 frames reproduced per 2d. Aim for an upload speed of 6 to seven Mbps (although Facebook limits most 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 2d, bitrate should be between 2,500 and 4,000 kbps. That requires upload speeds betwixt 3.ii Mbps and v Mbps.
  • For 720p video at lx frames per second, the bitrate should exist betwixt 3,500 and v,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 4.4 Mbps and half-dozen.2 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at thirty frames per second, 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 4.iv 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 betwixt 5.half-dozen Mbps and vii.four Mbps.

YouTube:

  • For 720p video at xxx frames per 2d, the range is one,500 to 4,000 kbps. That'due south an upload speed between roughly two Mbps and v Mbps.
  • For 720p video at 60 frames per second, the range is two,250 to 6,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are between 2.ix Mbps and 7.4 Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at 30 frames per second, the bitrate range is three,000 to vi,000 kbps. Required upload speeds are betwixt 3.8 Mbps and seven.four Mbps.
  • For 1080p video at lx frames per 2nd, the bitrate range is 4,500 to 9,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that ways betwixt five.6 Mbps and 11 Mbps.
  • For 1440p video at 30 frames per second, the bitrate range is six,000 to 13,000 kbps. That's between 7.4 Mbps and 15.viii Mbps in recommended upload speeds.
  • For 1440p video at 60 frames per second, the range is nine,000 to 18,000 kbps. In upload speeds, that's between 11 Mbps and 21.eight Mbps.
  • If you really desire to live stream 4k video, doing it at 30 frames per 2d will crave a bitrate between 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 second, the recommended bitrate range is xx,000 to 51,000 kbps. Yous'll need an upload speed between 24.2 Mbps and 61.5 Mbps.

Every bit yous tin see, YouTube offers the highest-quality alive 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 become a good upload speed for streaming

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

The upload speed you can reach depends on the service packages your Internet service provider offers. For residential users, the download speed volition always be college than the upload speed. The best fashion to get symmetry betwixt the 2 is to sign up for a business-level service if possible. It volition guarantee yous the ISP'southward declared upload speed at any fourth dimension. This, in turn, provides stability and reliability to ensure smooth live streams.

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

So, the first step in obtaining a practiced 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. Also, make sure you ask around about the quality of their service.

If y'all're stuck with a provider that offers suboptimal speeds, you lot can however exercise a couple of things to meliorate your situation:

  • Go a wired connexion. 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 connexion with an ethernet cable is meliorate. Information technology gives you lot less interference and more stability, which leads to better stream quality.
  • Remove backlog devices from your network. Yous don't want your internet connection to be crowded when you start streaming. Don't let any other device grunter your upload speed, and disconnect them from your network or turn off their WiFi capabilities during your stream.
  • Close backlog programs and apps on your computer. The only 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 await until you're off the air.
  • Utilize cloud-based multistreaming. Multistreaming, or streaming live to several platforms at the same time, is incredibly useful for content creators. It helps reach new audiences, saves time, and offers great tools from various platforms. Unfortunately, it can besides be demanding on your CPU and bandwidth. To deal with it, employ 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 upwards some of your upload bandwidth. Remove, terminate, or block whatsoever of these speed-leeching undesired programs.
  • Utilize up-to-engagement software and hardware. Old drivers can slow your reckoner down, and erstwhile modems can bottleneck your upload speed. Make sure your hardware and software are upwardly to the job of streaming live video.

🔥 How to stream with a low upload speed

With Restream Events, you can bypass the upload speed inconveniences. How? Our feature allows you to upload your pre-recorded videos, schedule them, and set them to become alive later as if they were regular streams. With this method, your upload speed doesn't matter. After yous upload your video, Restream volition circulate it at the scheduled time automatically, then y'all don't even accept to exist online.

Larn more 👉 Restream Events: Everything you demand to know

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

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Conclusion

As a alive video streamer, the quality of your content will depend on the quality of your broadcast. That'southward a fact. You lot tin can have the best skills in the most popular games, or the best banter, or the greatest sense of humor. Simply if people can't see and hear you well, they're not going to stick around to watch 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 lot circulate.

Think, you shouldn't go for the highest possible upload speed past default. You merely need it if y'all're planning to stream at a very high bitrate. A good upload speed is the i that'southward appropriate for your goals.