Patrick Tan
New Member
Hey guys, so I've tried streaming on my laptop that is an ASUS G55VW-DH71-CA (Intel Core i7-3630QM (2.4GHz), 12G DDR3, 750GB hard drive, Windows 8.1 (64 bit), Nvidia GTX 660M 2G GDDR5), and my stream was working completely fine a month ago. And now, I'm using my desktop which is an i5 4690k (3.5GHz), 24G DDR3, 1TB hard drive, Win 8.1 (64 bit), and Radeon R9 290 Double Dissipation 4G GDDR5, and I would expect my streaming capability to be better or at least just as good. The performance of my desktop is definitely better than my laptop, but when I try to stream in OBS (I know how to fix and change my settings) I am just dropping frames like crazy. The kbps counter on the bottom right of OBS is fluctuating continuously between green, yellow, and red. Does that mean the issue is on the ISP's side? I've not made any changes to my ISP and the speeds are the same according to speedtest.net. Also, the upload speed clocks at ~ 4.8Mbps, and the bitrate I'm trying to use in OBS is only +/- 2000. I'm dropping at least 25% frames. I don't know how else to troubleshoot so I decided to ask here for help.
tldr. I used to have no problems streaming, but now I'm dropping frames like crazy.
edit- sorry for posting right away, currently reading the sticky.
I aborted the test, since I'm from US East.
Things I've tried/checked
other things:
Re: speedtest.net, I'm not even using 50% of the displayed result for OBS.
This is DEFINITELY not the case.
tldr. I used to have no problems streaming, but now I'm dropping frames like crazy.
edit- sorry for posting right away, currently reading the sticky.
I aborted the test, since I'm from US East.
Things I've tried/checked
- Try changing servers
- Try lowering bitrate
- Don't stream over wireless (I've always used an ethernet cable)
- Firewall exceptions (allowed OBS, allowed outbound Port 1935)
- Update Network Adapter Driver (already up-to-date)
- Hardware is definitely not faulty
Check for throttling
Some ISPs or large networks (such as those in a university) might throttle your connection if you are using more upload bandwidth than they want. You can check your connection for network traffic shapers using ShaperProbe. ShaperProbe isn't guaranteed to find all shaping problems, but it is pretty good at spotting issues with upload speeds that a simple speed test would not uncover. If you detect that your upload speeds are being throttled, you will have to speak with your ISP or network administrator, or stream at a bit rate within their limits.
In particular, check the rate under "Upstream" after it says it is checking for shapers (not the "Estimating capacity" one). If it says "Upstream: Measurement aborted due to high packet loss rate" then you are having a big problem with your upload speed, usually due to an issue with your ISP or with your internal network. Otherwise, check to see if there is "No shaper detected" or if you get a "Shaping rate" to see what your actual upload speed is due to traffic shaping.
Some ISPs or large networks (such as those in a university) might throttle your connection if you are using more upload bandwidth than they want. You can check your connection for network traffic shapers using ShaperProbe. ShaperProbe isn't guaranteed to find all shaping problems, but it is pretty good at spotting issues with upload speeds that a simple speed test would not uncover. If you detect that your upload speeds are being throttled, you will have to speak with your ISP or network administrator, or stream at a bit rate within their limits.
In particular, check the rate under "Upstream" after it says it is checking for shapers (not the "Estimating capacity" one). If it says "Upstream: Measurement aborted due to high packet loss rate" then you are having a big problem with your upload speed, usually due to an issue with your ISP or with your internal network. Otherwise, check to see if there is "No shaper detected" or if you get a "Shaping rate" to see what your actual upload speed is due to traffic shaping.
other things:
Re: speedtest.net, I'm not even using 50% of the displayed result for OBS.
Speed tests are a very rough estimate - they mean very little with regards to streaming
Just because a speed test says you have 5Mb/s upload doesn't mean you can upload to anything at a stable 5Mb/s. That's just not how the internet works unfortunately. You're never guaranteed to be able to maintain a stable connection to a server if the server or routing points to the server are unstable. Your "stable" bitrate is more likely about 70-75% of your "estimated" speed test upload (and that's only if you're not being throttled). If anything, a speed test will tell you the theoretical maximum speed that you could stream at under perfectly ideal conditions, but conditions are never perfect.
Just because a speed test says you have 5Mb/s upload doesn't mean you can upload to anything at a stable 5Mb/s. That's just not how the internet works unfortunately. You're never guaranteed to be able to maintain a stable connection to a server if the server or routing points to the server are unstable. Your "stable" bitrate is more likely about 70-75% of your "estimated" speed test upload (and that's only if you're not being throttled). If anything, a speed test will tell you the theoretical maximum speed that you could stream at under perfectly ideal conditions, but conditions are never perfect.
This is DEFINITELY not the case.
Bad router or bad networking hardware
Faulty hardware is usually quite rare, but if you suspect your hardware is malfunctioning, plug in to your modem directly, bypassing the router, so you can check to see if that's the issue. If you have another network card available (including the one in a laptop or other PC you might have lying around) try that plugged into the modem to check for network card problems on your streaming PC. Try using different ethernet cables too.
Faulty hardware is usually quite rare, but if you suspect your hardware is malfunctioning, plug in to your modem directly, bypassing the router, so you can check to see if that's the issue. If you have another network card available (including the one in a laptop or other PC you might have lying around) try that plugged into the modem to check for network card problems on your streaming PC. Try using different ethernet cables too.
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