Stream with Low-Speed Internet Using OBS Studio

Streaming on websites like Twitch or YouTube may be a terrific way to engage your audience and expand your online profile if you're a serious gamer or content producer. While streaming, slow internet speeds can be problematic because they can cause lagging and buffering, which can be annoying for both you and your viewers. Thankfully, there are techniques to optimize your streaming setup and stream without interruption even with slow internet. In this tutorial, we'll go through how to live stream and record videos using the well-liked free and open-source program OBS Studio while utilizing slow internet.

What is OBS Studio?

Let's first take a quick look at what OBS Studio is and what it can do before getting into the mechanics of streaming with it. Open Broadcaster Studio, occasionally referred to as OBS Studio, is a free and open-source program for live broadcasting and video recording. It supports many streaming services including Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live and is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. You may use OBS Studio to record and capture your camera, screen, and audio inputs, then combine them to create a single video output that can be broadcast or stored for later.

Check Your Internet Speed

Checking your internet speed is the first step in streaming over slow internet. To assess your internet speed, which is commonly expressed in megabits per second (Mbps), you may utilize online programs like speedtest.net. The suggested upload internet speed for streaming is 3 Mbps, however faster upload connections are ideal for lag-free streaming. You can suffer buffering, lagging, or other problems that could reduce the quality of your stream if your internet speed is less than 3 Mbps.

Optimize OBS Studio Settings

The next step is to adjust OBS Studio settings to your internet speed and computer hardware once you've tested your internet speed. Here are some settings that are suggested for streaming over slow internet:

Output Settings

• Output mode: Simple

• Video bitrate: 1000-1500 kbps (or lower if necessary)

• Audio bitrate: 128 kbps

• Encoder: x264 (or NVENC if you have a supported graphics card)

• Key frame interval: 2 seconds

• CPU usage preset: Very fast (or faster if your computer can handle it)

• Profile: Main

• Level: Auto

Video Settings

• Base canvas resolution: 1280x720 (or lower if necessary)

• Output scaled resolution: 1280x720 (or lower if necessary)

• Downscale filter: Lanczos (Sharpened scaling, 36 samples)

• FPS: 30 (or lower if necessary)

• Video format: NV12

• YUV color space: 601

• YUV color range: Partial

Audio Settings

• Sample rate: 44.1 kHz

• Channels: Stereo

• Audio format: AAC

Remember that these options may change based on your particular configuration and internet speed. To discover the best balance between quality and performance for your broadcast, experiment with various parameters.

Reduce Stream Delay

Reduce stream delay, which can lessen buffering and lagging, is another technique to set up your streaming setup for low-speed internet. The difference in time between when you do anything on your broadcast—like converse or play a game—and when your viewers see it on their screens is referred to as stream delay. You may make your broadcast more responsive and interesting for your viewers by cutting down on stream latency.

To reduce stream delay in OBS Studio, go to Settings > Advanced, and set the "Minimize network impact" option to "Enabled". This will reduce the amount of buffering and latency in