Can you Stream?

Some history...

When movie streaming became a thing, internet companies began creating packages that will let you view whatever you wanted in HD Quality. They did this by increasing your download speed. You simply need to "receive" the data fast enough to keep the video and sound quality up. This is the same as when you watch anyone's stream - the faster you get the data the better the quality. But here is where the problem lies when we decide to stream.

For example sake, a company such as Disney+ has data centers throughout the world which can let you download at insane speeds to give you the quality you want (Client Server Network). They can do this because they have an insane amount of upload speeds available to them. We're talking thousands of times faster than what you can get at home. Because of this they can give you all the data as fast as you can get it.

The Problem...

When you are streaming on a peer-to-peer platform such as zoom YOU are becoming "Disney+". Your students are the viewers trying to download the data as fast as they can get it.

How does it work...

Unfortunately, most households have internet connections that have almost no upload speed available to them to "give" your viewers the data they want for a quality picture or sound. If you run a speed test you will see it for yourself.

Let's say for example you have a 5mbps upload speed and you run a zoom meeting with 3 students. The max speed they will be able to "download" from you is 1.3mbps each. If that increases to 6, they get .83mbps each, 9 viewers they get .55mbps each. If you compare that to what a viewer needs for HD video and sound you see thats nowhere near sufficient.

So what's the fix?

(1) You need faster upload speeds in order for your viewers to get the quality you want to give. From what I know the fastest any internet company provides is a one gigabit per second line. However as you can imagine, these are costly usually running anywhere between $100 - $150 per month. But, they also have other packages and methods to increase your upload speeds at incremental pricing. Contact them! These days they know people need internet and are doing awesome deals.

(2) Use a Client Server Network such as Dacast and Twitch. With this option you feed the stream to them as fast as you can send it and they are now the "Disney+" giving it to them as fast as they can download it.

So your next step...

Before you buy anything to stream make sure you CAN stream. To do this click here or visit google.com and search "What's my internet speed". You will get options on how to do so.

Whats the recommended upload speed...

The faster the better as the more viewers you have, the less "download" speed they have. Generally however an upload speed of 15Mbps is more than sufficient.