Step 1: Know Your Upload Speed
The Golden Rule of Streaming
Before you touch a single setting in OBS or Streamlabs, you must know your internet's true capability. Specifically, your upload speed. Your download speed is irrelevant here; streaming is an upload-intensive task.
How to Get an Accurate Speed Test
To get an accurate measurement, follow these best practices:
1. Use a Wired Connection
Wi-Fi is prone to interference and fluctuations. Plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer from your router for the most stable results.
2. Close Bandwidth-Heavy Apps
Shut down any other downloads, streaming services (Netflix, Spotify), or online games on your network. These will skew your results.
3. Run Multiple Tests
Use Speedtest.net or Cloudflare's speed test. Run it 2-3 times to get a consistent average. The number you care about is the "Upload Mbps".
Example Result
For our calculation examples, let's say your speed test shows: 10 Mbps Upload Speed
Step 2: The 75% Safety Buffer Rule
⚠️ Critical Mistake to Avoid
It's tempting to use all 10 Mbps of your upload speed, but this will lead to connection instability and dropped frames. Your internet connection is never perfectly stable, and your game and other background services also need bandwidth.
The professional standard is to allocate about 75% of your upload speed to your stream. This ensures stability even during network fluctuations.
Applying the Formula
Using our 10 Mbps example:
Result
7,500 kbps is the absolute maximum bitrate you should enter into your streaming software. This buffer ensures that even with network fluctuations, your stream remains stable.
Quick Reference Table
| Upload Speed | Safe Bitrate (75%) | Recommended Settings |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Mbps | 3,750 kbps | Excellent 720p@60fps or Good 1080p@30fps |
| 8 Mbps | 6,000 kbps | Excellent 1080p@60fps (Twitch) |
| 10 Mbps | 7,500 kbps | Excellent 1080p@60fps (YouTube) |
| 20 Mbps | 15,000 kbps | Excellent 1440p@60fps (YouTube) |
Step 3: Match Your Platform and Goals
Now that you have your safe maximum (7,500 kbps in our example), you can choose your settings. This is where you balance quality with platform limits.
Twitch's official recommendation for partners is a maximum of 6,000 kbps, though their servers can often handle up to 8,000 kbps (the "8k trick").
Recommendation:
Set your bitrate to 6,000 kbps. Our 7,500 kbps budget easily accommodates this. This is the sweet spot for high-quality 1080p 60fps streaming on Twitch.
YouTube is built for high-quality video and can handle much higher bitrates. This allows for superior quality if your internet can support it.
Recommendation:
With a 7,500 kbps budget, you can confidently stream at that bitrate for pristine 1080p 60fps quality. YouTube's infrastructure can handle this easily.
What If Your Upload Speed is Low?
The Hard Choice
If your upload speed is low (under 5 Mbps), you're forced to make a difficult choice between bitrate and resolution. The key question: is it better to have higher bitrate or higher resolution?
Spoiler alert: A clean 720p stream at 3,500 kbps will always look better than a blocky 1080p stream at 3,500 kbps.
Beyond the Calculation
Calculating your bitrate is the first and most important step, but it's just the beginning. To truly master your streaming setup, you need to understand the deeper relationship between bitrate, resolution, and content complexity.