How fast should my internet be to stream?

Streaming your content live online is more accessible than ever and also can be equally data hungry. From streaming right from your phone to your followers on TikTok to streaming a professional event in 4K 60fps with High Dynamic Range on YouTube, these all require some amount of bandwidth to get your live content to where it needs to be.

How much upload bandwidth is enough for how you want to stream? Will you need to upgrade your internet package from your ISP, or are you all ready to go live with what you have right now? We’ll shed some light on that and more.

Each of the livestreaming services out there, such as Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, et cetera have their own requirements and limits for how much bandwidth they’re willing to accept. They also have various other options they accept such as different resolutions or aspect ratios, think landscape streaming or portrait on YouTube shorts for example. But we tackle that here.

You can find the streaming guidelines for those services here

YouTube: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702
Twitch: https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/broadcasting-guidelines
Kick: https://help.kick.com/en/articles/7066931-how-to-stream-on-kick-com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/162540111070395

In short, here’s the maximum bitrates supported by the services.

Twitch: 6Mbps (up to 1080p)
Youtube: 40Mbps (Up to 4K)
Kick: 8Mbps (Up to 1080p)
Facebook: 9Mbps (Up to 1080p)

We’ll use the term Mbps quite often in this article. This stands for Megabits per second. Or millions of bits. This is a measure how much data is moved in one second. In some apps, it may be listed Kbps or Kilobits per second. Those two terms differ by a factor of 1000. 1Mbps is 1000Kbps. But they refer to the same thing.

While we’re focusing on streaming from a desktop or laptop computer, the same concepts apply for those streaming from a mobile device.

First things first, you will need to find out how much bandwidth you have right now. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) often has a tool you can use, or you can try Speedtest.net, Speed.Cloudflare.com, or fiber.google.com/speedtest.

All of these will provide a test of your download speed and upload speed. That’s how fast data comes from the internet into your computer and how fast data goes from your computer out to the internet, respectively.

There’s all sorts of different ways you access the internet. Maybe it’s cable internet, fiber optic, you connect over 5G to a local tower, and more. These all behave a little differently and work better for live streaming than others.

But the important factor for what we’re looking at today has to do with upload bandwidth. This is the amount of data per second your internet connection can move from your computer to somewhere else on the internet.

Many services quote the download speed only. Which for watching others streaming or watching your favorite shows is perfectly fine. You may need to dig a little deeper to find out the upload speed for your current plan.

For instance, here is an internet plan labeled as 150Mbps. But if we dig a little deeper...

If we click on Pricing & Other info, we can see that the real upload bandwidth is around 23Mbps.

This is what matters if you’re a live streamer. Cable Internet typically has this lopsided speed. Where download is sometimes very fast, but upload is not. You will need to make sure of this if you plan on upgrading.

Conversely, other connection types like Fiber Optic are the prized goal of many live streamers due to their symmetric speeds. Meaning the speeds for download and upload are the same, and typically very fast.

Let’s look at an example with some numbers. Twitch has an official limit of 6,000Kbps or 6Mbps. If you’re planning on streaming to Twitch, you would be good to go with an internet connection that has an upload speed of at least 10Mbps or more.

This 6Mbps is meant to include all your video and audio and it can include different resolutions. With most types of content, you can stream at 1080p and 60fps with 6Mbps on Twitch. Perfect for use with Game Capture Neo and a Nintendo Switch for instance.

Since YouTube supports 4K streaming at 60fps, it allows a much higher bitrate limit of 40Mbps to handle that many pixels. That doesn’t mean you have used the maximum. In fact, you can still produce a 1080p stream like the other three services listed here if you’re on a slower connection.

But with our Twitch example, if we said 6Mbps upload bandwidth is all we need to stream, why did we say to have an upload of 10Mbps? Well, there is more going on with your internet connection than just the stream itself. If you’re using 100% of your possible upload speed, your viewers may notice skips in the video, sudden pixelation, or they may lose the stream completely.

There are other apps and devices on your internet connection that need to send information. Your streaming software may be looking to update your live chat or new emotes. If you’re playing an online game, that game also needs to be able to send and receive information to keep you playing.

If there are others in your dwelling may also be browsing social media on their phone which can use up upload bandwidth that you’re using to stream. For that reason, it’s good to account for some headroom. We’d suggest at least 20%, but the more the merrier.

In Summary, to stream to any of the above services at 1080p with a healthy 6 to 8Mbps bitrate. You’ll want to ensure your internet connection’s upload speed is around 10-12Mbps at least to account for any occasional uses besides your livestream.

For a 4K stream on YouTube at a bitrate of 25Mbps, ensure your connection can support a total of around 35Mbps.

If your current connection is no where near these numbers, you may need to talk to your current or a new Internet Provider to see what options are available. If you’re pretty close, keep reading for some more tips.

If at all possible, use a wired Ethernet connection from your computer to your router and ISP. While Wifi has dramatically improved over time, it is still subject to hiccups and drops from nearby interference like a neighbor’s Wifi or maybe a microwave.

For those streaming with OBS Studio, there’s also a few options you can try to get a bit more out of your connection or to help with some periodic drops. Inside of OBS Studio Settings, go to Advanced tab, then you can enable “Dynamically change bitrate to manage connection” and “Enable Network Optimizations”. This will enable a third option “Enable TCP Pacing” Check this.

The first will change your selected bitrate in settings if OBS Studio detects that your available bandwidth is dropping. This will reduce quality temporarily but will more reliably keep you streaming.

The second and third option change how data is uploaded to try and smooth it out and reduce spikes. Great if you don’t have much headroom like we discussed earlier.

And lastly, if you’re in a place where you’re already on the fastest connection you can always reduce your bitrate to fit within your current speeds. This will mean your quality will be reduced, but you can still go live and connect with your audience.

Even though you may be on a slower connection, that doesn’t mean you can’t provide high quality VODs for viewers later. Software such as OBS Studio can let you have different recording settings compared to the stream. Record in 4K at a high quality on your computer, but stream at 1080p.

Upload your 4K recording of the stream to YouTube and you can provide an upgraded copy of what was live. Learn more about how to do this in our guide here.