Determining network speeds necessary for live streaming can be difficult. The table below will give you some general ideas of speeds necessary for streaming and certain resolutions.
Bear in mind that these speeds are a measure of speed dedicated to the outgoing stream itself. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 2x the amount of available bandwidth as what you want to stream at. This means that if you want to stream at, say, 1.5mbps then you would want a speed test to show, at a minimum, 3mbps of upload speed.
Minimum Upload Speeds:
Resolution | Min Bitrate | Target Bitrate | Max Bitrate |
480p | 700 kbps | 1.5 Mbps | 4.9 Mbps |
720p | 1.5 Mbps | 3.0 Mbps | 4.9 Mbps |
1080p | 3.0 Mbps | 4.0 Mbps | 4.9 Mbps |
BoxCaster (HDSD2):
Resolution | Min Bitrate | Target Bitrate | Max Bitrate |
480p | 300 kbps | 2.5 Mbps | 4.8 Mbps |
720p | 300 kbps | 3.5 Mbps | 4.8 Mbps |
1080p | 300 kbps | 4.0 Mbps | 4.8 Mbps |
BoxCaster Pro:
Resolution | Min Bitrate | Target Bitrate | Max Bitrate |
720p30 (HEVC) | 500 kbps | 4.0 Mbps | 6.0 Mbps |
720p60 (HEVC) | 800 kbps | 6.0 Mbps | 9.0 Mbps |
1080p30 (HEVC) | 1.0 Mbps | 8.0 Mpbs | 12.0 Mbps |
1080p60 (HEVC) | 1.5 Mbps | 12.0 Mbps | 18.0 Mbps |
RTMP:
Resolution | Min Bitrate | Target Bitrate | Max Bitrate |
720p30 | 1.0 Mbps | 4.0 Mbps | 6.0 Mbps |
720p60 | 1.5 Mbps | 6.0 Mbps | 9.0 Mbps |
1080p30 | 2.0 Mbps | 8.0 Mbps | 12.0 Mbps |
1080p60 | 3.0 Mbps | 12.0 Mbps | 18.0 Mbps |
Broadcaster App:
Resolution | Min Bitrate | Target Bitrate | Max Bitrate |
720p30 | 1.0 Mbps | 4.0 Mbps | 6.0 Mbps |
720p60 | 1.5 Mbps | 6.0 Mbps | 9.0 Mbps |
1080p30 | 2.0 Mbps | 8.0 Mbps | 12.0 Mbps |
1080p60 | 3.0 Mbps | 12.0 Mbps | 18.0 Mbps |