Speedy Streams Review: The answer to the question of “How much internet speed is required for streaming?” lies in the kind of streaming you’re doing i.e. streaming videos, TV shows, or live streaming. In the case of the first situation, your download speed is crucial, while in the latter case your upload speed is what you need to be paying attention to. So what exactly is the difference between your download and upload speed?
Well, your download speed refers to the rate at which you are able to fetch data from the internet to your device per second whereas the upload speed is the opposite of this, i.e. it is the rate at which you are able to share data from your computer or electronic device to a server per second. Now that we’ve cleared these basics, we can look into the required speeds for the two kinds of streaming:
Streaming Videos
Speedy Streams Review is most likely that while you’ve been streaming practically any video,you will have noticed a settings icon on which if you click, you can select the video quality you’d like to stream in. There are three broad categories of video qualities measured usually by the number of pixels (p).
- Standard definition (SD) refers to video qualities of 360p and 480p
- High definition (HD) includes values of 720p and 1080p.
- Even more superior to HD is 4K Ultra HD, which is essentially flawless in terms of video quality today, thanks to it consisting of approximately 4000 pixels.
Each of these differing video qualities, naturally have different corresponding download speed requirements as shown below:
| Video Quality | Download Speed |
| 360p and 480p | 3 Mbps |
| 720p and 1080p | 5 Mbps |
| 4K Ultra HD | 25 Mbps |
However, be sure to note that if there are multiple devices streaming 4K Ultra HD videos or HD videos, the speeds required for the household may be higher at around 50 Mbps as the table above shows the average speeds required by one person.
Live Streaming
Did you know that the value of influencer marketing rose from $6.5 billion in 2019 to $13.8 billion in 2021 — that’s more than twice the figure of 2019! We all know that influencers make money through uploading content and live streaming as this allows them to connect with their fans in a seemingly more authentic way. But, all influencers know the market can be cut-throat so it’s important to make sure you have a good upload speed, otherwise your video quality could negatively impact your audience reach or audience focus when watching your content.
All this talk of upload speeds brings us to the question: what is a good internet speed for live streaming? Some websites say a good upload speed can vary anywhere between 672 kbps and 61.5 Mbps. Not very helpful right? The truth is the exact answer to a good upload speed can vary significantly according to the platform you use and the volume of visual information involved in your stream. On average, an upload speed of about 4 Mbps is needed for a standard definition 720p video with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. Before you think all you need is 4 Mbps, think again because Wi-Fi can be unstable, and speeds often fluctuate a fair bit, which means your upload speed should be about 35% to 40% higher than the required speed. Another alternative would be to use an Ethernet cable as this ensures greater stability and higher internet speeds.
The amount of visual information and video quality can also affect the upload speed needed significantly as shown in the table:
| Application | Pixel (p) | Frames per second (fps) | Upload Speed |
| Twitch | 720p | 30 fps | 3.5-5 Mbps |
| Twitch | 720p | 60 fps | 6 Mbps |
| Twitch | 1080p | 60 fps | 7.4 Mbps |
| YouTube | 720p | 30 fps | 2.25-6 Mbps |
| YouTube | 720p | 60 fps | 7.4 Mbps |
| YouTube | 4K Ultra HD | 60 fps | 20-51 Mbps |
If you’re considering Facebook live, then you should know that beginners can only live stream up to 720p for free so if you’re sticking to Facebook an upload speed of 5 Mbps should suffice.
In Conclusion…
The download and upload speeds you require can be very specific to your needs as shown in this post, so it’s always best to do your research or talk to a Spectrum customer service agent to figure out the right internet plan for you.
Also Read – Types of Corporate Video Productions and How They Are Made