How Do I Test My Internet Speed?

When live streaming, it is important that you have at least 5 mbps of upload internet speed (7 mbps or higher preferred) for your broadcast. On StreamYard, however, the quality of your connection is more important than the speeds, so we recommend plugging in directly to your router via Ethernet when possible.

How to test your speeds

To test the speed of your internet, go to speed.cloudflare.com.

You will see many results, such as your download speed, upload speed, latency and packet loss. The numbers that matter mosts are:

• Upload speed: As mentioned earlier, you want to have at least 5 mbps-7 mbps or higher for your upload speed.
• Latency: High latency values (> 100ms) can impact your ability for real-time streaming. Make sure your results do not exceed this threshold.
• Packet loss: This measurement represents the amount of data that your connection "dropped" along the way, failing to deliver some of your video contents to the server. This value should not exceed 2% of the total packets to be sent.

Although a decent download speed allows you to view other participants' streams at the best quality available, this value does not influence the quality of your own output.
 

How Do I Improve My Internet Speeds For Live Streaming?

Here are some practical steps you can follow before—and during—your broadcast to keep a smooth, high-quality StreamYard session:

• Go wired whenever possible: Plug you computer directly into the router with an Ethernet cable. If Wi-Fi is unavoidable, use the 5 GHz band, position yourself close to the access point, and keep line-of-sight clear.
• Reduce background traffic: Pause cloud-backup apps (Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.), large downloads, automatic OS updates, and other streaming services on the same network. Ask household members to avoid high-bandwidth gaming or video streaming while you're live.
• Reboot your router: If you are facing low network quality issues, reboot your router 10-15 minutes before you go live to clear stale sessions.
• Optimize inside StreamYard: In Settings → Camera, drop the outgoing resolution to 720p / 480p if your tests show low stats, or if you start noticing degradation issues while live.
• Coach your guests: Encourage every participant to test their own connection and go through these steps.