# Support "Twitch Stream Test" functionality when logged into Twitch



## macharborguy (Mar 1, 2019)

Normally when using a stream key, you can run a bandwidth test by editing your stream key as follows...

live_0000000_xxxxxxxxxxxx*?bandwidthtest=true*

This will allow you to do a real OBS broadcast to the Twitch ingest server, but it will not actually take your stream live.  This will also allow the Twitch Inspector website/tool to give detailed information.

However, when logged into Twitch within OBS, there does not appear to be a way to add this to the stream key, since the key is not accessible

A "Test Stream" button could be added to the Control's panel.


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## dodgepong (Mar 1, 2019)

While I don't think this is a bad idea, I admit I'm curious as to what the use case typically is for this. Why do you do a test stream as opposed to using a tool like TwitchTest to verify the quality of the connection? How long do you typically run the test for? What are you usually looking for and testing during that time?


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## macharborguy (Mar 2, 2019)

To be honest, I do not trust the TwitchTool results at all.

1: My connections to the Chicago ingest server today were dropping my frames unless I sent things to 3Mbps (I normally have streamed at 6Mbps 1080p60 with zero issues for the past 3 months).   TwitchTool shows 10000kbps+ 100% quality for that server.

2: TwitchTool, when looking at the Twitch Inspector page, reports as being 0kbps.   Streaming with OBS set to ?bandwidthtest=1 on the stream key sends a proper stream to their server using the reported bandwidth, and allows me to see the graph and any inconsistencies in the connection.


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