What Internet Do You Need to Livestream an Event in Sydney?

A livestream needs a steady upload connection that stays fast for the entire event, with room to spare. Upload is the number that matters, because the stream is sending video out of the venue. Download speed, the figure every internet plan advertises, barely comes into it.

That is the short answer. The longer one is about why the connection in the room is usually the weak point, and what to do about it.

Why upload speed is the one to check

Most home and venue internet plans are built for downloading: watching Netflix, loading pages, pulling files. Their upload speed is often a small fraction of the download figure. A connection that feels quick when you browse can still struggle to push HD video out continuously for an hour.

Consistency matters as much as speed. A stream sends data every second. A connection that tests fast once and then dips every few minutes will show up as a picture that freezes or drops in quality at exactly the wrong moment, usually during the vows or the eulogy.

Why venue wifi is a gamble

Venue wifi was set up for guests checking email, and it is usually shared with everyone in the building. Once the room fills and every guest's phone joins the same network, the bandwidth that tested fine at the site visit is split many ways.

There are other traps. Many venues put wifi behind a login page that times out. Some block the kind of traffic streaming software uses. And in older Sydney churches and sandstone halls, the thick walls that make the building beautiful also swallow mobile and wifi signal.

None of this is the venue's fault. Their network was never meant to carry a live broadcast.

What we bring instead

We do not rely on the venue's connection. We bring at least three independent mobile internet connections and combine them into one, so if one network has a problem, the stream keeps going on the others. Venue wifi, if there is any, is only ever a spare.

We also record everything locally while we stream. Video and audio go onto their own devices, with further copies on our laptop and in the cloud. If a connection problem interrupts the live picture, viewers are not left with a gap forever: we upload the full recording to the same link after the event.

We arrive at least ninety minutes before the start, and most of that time goes into testing the stream from inside the room, at the spot where the cameras will sit.

If you are streaming it yourself

Plenty of people stream small events themselves, and it can work. A few things make the difference:

• Test at the venue, at the same time of day as the event, from the exact spot you will stream from.
• Test with people in the room if you can. An empty hall gives you a flattering result.
• Run a private test stream for as long as the real event, rather than a quick speed test.
• Use a wired connection over wifi if the venue has one you are allowed to plug into.
• Check mobile coverage on more than one network, so you have somewhere to fall back to.
• Record locally as well, so a dropped connection costs you the live moment and nothing more.

What viewers need at their end

Much less than you might think. An ordinary home connection is enough to watch, on a phone, tablet, laptop or smart TV. When a viewer does have trouble, it is usually on their side: weak wifi in the back bedroom, or the volume turned down. Sending the link a day early so people can test it clears up most of that.

If you would rather hand the whole thing to someone else, you can see how we live stream events across Sydney.

We bring our own connections to weddings, corporate events and funerals at the venues across Sydney we already know.