Are you losing viewers to common streaming issues?
Buffering and glitches are only a few of the problems that can plague your live stream. These issues may be temporary. But they can lead to a significant loss in viewers and engagement.
The good news is that you don’t have to deal with streaming disruptions forever. The most common problems are relatively easy to solve with a few tweaks to your equipment and streaming strategy.
If you want to know the most common live event streaming problems and how you can solve them, this guide is for you. Keep reading for everything you need to know.
Common Live Streaming Issues
Do you constantly deal with issues when live streaming your events? If so, you aren’t alone. These are the most common problems live streamers like you struggle with regularly.
Buffering
No one wants their live stream to suddenly pause because the content loads too slowly. Also known as buffering, this issue often causes viewers to stop streaming before the event ends.
Buffering can happen because of a slow network connection or too much data loading at once. The former issue is on your streaming platform. The latter issue may be beyond your control if the user’s internet connection is to blame.
Glitches
When a live stream keeps playing, but the visuals get blurry, that’s a glitch. A glitch can also happen when the audio gets ahead of or behind the visual stream. That’s why glitches are also known as lags.
There are many reasons why your live stream could be glitching. It may be an issue with your modem, internet connection, resolution, or graphics card driver.
Poor Quality
Poor streaming quality can lead to buffering and lags. But it may also create a low-quality picture, making it difficult for viewers to see what’s going on. Even if the quality is good sometimes, inconsistency is frustrating for users.
The user’s internet connection could be to blame for poor or inconsistent video quality. Problems that could be affecting your stream’s quality from your end include a low-quality WiFi router or insufficient bandwidth.
Playback Issues
Playback allows users to stream your live events their way. They can fast forward, rewind, and pause the stream on whatever device they want to view your event on.
Most commonly, this issue happens because your live stream doesn’t support all the devices and platforms your viewers use.
How to Avoid These Live Streaming Problems
So, how can you prevent buffering, glitching, poor quality, and playback issues from disrupting your live stream? Here are our top tips for doing just that.
Use the Right Streaming Technology
If you stream your events on your phone, you can’t expect a professional end result. You need professional-grade, high-quality streaming equipment to prevent buffering, lags, and quality and playback issues.
Ensure you have a fast and reliable internet connection. The upload speed should be at least 20 megabits per second (Mbps). You also need a live-streaming encoder and a reputable streaming platform partner.
Keep Your Equipment Up to Date
Low-quality or outdated routers, modems, and graphic card drivers can cause buffering and glitching. Even an old laptop could be to blame for your biggest streaming problems.
That’s why it’s critical to update your streaming technology. Streaming equipment providers are always coming up with new ways to overcome the issues that could be decreasing engagement at your live events.
Test Your Equipment Before Going Live
Testing your equipment before your event is always a good idea. That way, you can identify potential issues and troubleshoot them before they become an issue for your viewers.
You can test your internet connection, streaming platform (especially if it’s new to you), encoder device, upload speed, WiFi router, and more. Also, consider testing your live stream on different devices to ensure multi-platform playback.
Get a Reliable Internet Connection
Having a reliable internet connection has tons of benefits for your live streams. It can improve streaming quality for your users. Plus, good internet connections are fault-tolerant.
Fault-tolerant means that even when bad weather strikes, fewer of your users will be affected. Reliable internet has redundancy connections and backup components to troubleshoot issues before you know they’re a problem.
Increase Your Bandwidth Availability
Bandwidth refers to how much data your internet connection can process per second. Faster bandwidth is better for live streaming. It can prevent annoying buffering, improve video quality, and reduce lags.
There are many ways to increase your bandwidth speed, including doing a simple upgrade with your internet provider. Using an ethernet cable and reducing the number of devices connected to your WiFi network can also help.
Switch to a Better Streaming Platform
Your streaming platform is the location where your live videos exist online. These platforms make it easy and convenient to post content online. But they come with their own guidelines for the best results.
For example, Vimeo requires streams to use 10 Mbps speeds or higher to live stream at 1080p. Streaming at a lower speed can lead to glitches, buffering, and more.
WSN Can Help You With These Streaming Issues
Buffering, glitching, poor video quality, and playback issues are the most common streaming issues. Keep these problems from disrupting your live event stream with the right streaming partner.
Are you searching for a partner for all your live event streams? WSN helps sports teams, schools, and churches make events more accessible. Schedule a call with us today to learn more about our video streaming services.