# Optimizing your live stream

1\. Foremost, we need to determine your highest ISP upload speed to know how much video data can be transferred before running into issues such as buffering and freezing. Run the following test while using the internet from the streaming location.

Visit [www.testmy.net/upload](http://www.testmy.net/upload) and click the "Test Upload Speed" button, as shown below.

<figure><img src="/files/RGHreYlQFEFXkXaqfAyb" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

2\. After the test has been completed, you'll most likely be shown the results in "Mbps" or megabits per second. We'll need to convert this to "Kbps" or kilobits per second and then divide it in half. This will be the optimized bit rate for your video.

With the result from the speed test, proceed to multiply it by 1000 and divide by 2. For example, as seen in the image below, our upload speed was 5.1 Mbps:\
\
5.1 x 1000 = 5100\
5100 / 2 = 2550\
\
Our optimized bit rate to live stream is 2550 Kbps.

<figure><img src="/files/zYFb1fcmkvMueVrDXOjQ" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

3\. Now that we know your optimized video bitrate, we need to match it to the best video resolution size. Use the recommendations below to determine your optimized resolution size:

* 3000-4500 Kbps: Recommended resolution size: 1080p
* 1800-3000 Kbps: Recommended resolution size: 720p
* 900-1800 Kbps: Recommended resolution size: 480p
* 600-900 Kbps: Recommended resolution size: 360p
* Up to 600 Kbps: Recommended resolution size: 240p

As per our example, we had a result of 2550 kbps, and we now have determined that our optimized resolution size would be 720p.

4\. You can now update your encoder with the optimized video bit rate and resolution size, giving you the best quality from the encoder end. It's good to note other factors can degrade quality, such as using non-digital connections or having non-HD cameras but using these settings will ensure your encoder is sending out an optimized video.

{% hint style="info" %}

* ISP upload speeds do fluctuate from time to time. It's always a good idea to run a weekly speed test to ensure your speed hasn't changed much. This is especially important if you start experiencing issues with buffering/freezing, as this will allow you to adjust your bitrate as needed during internet issues.
  {% endhint %}


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