Question / Help Stream keeps buffering for viewers

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FOXYtime

New Member
Hi. I have a problem that makes it very hard for me to even attempt getting any kind of viewerbase on twitch.

I've send an email to twitch regarding this issue, and I thought I'd copy that email to this forum post in hope that I might find the answer to my problems here.

I appreciate all the help/tips/tricks you may give me. Here's the email I sent to twitch regarding my issue:

"
Hi Twitch Support!

I'm a streamer at twitch, but I have one issue. 80% of my viewer count (even though it's not that high) keeps buffering on my stream. I've tried lowering the quality more and more, but the issue remains. I have no dropped frames and like I said, it only happens to certain people (and yes, most of them have very good internet). So my question is basically if it's something with the twitch server I'm streaming from. I can't lower my quality much more, then it will basically be unwatchable.

I can give you some information about my computer specs, OBS settings and stuff.

PC Specs:

Motherboard: MSI Z97 G5

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K 4GHz, 8MB

GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX 780

RAM: Corsair Vengence 16GB 2400Mhz

PSU: Corsair TX850M

CPU Cooler: Be quiet! Dark Rock 2

Chassi: Corsair 600T White

Internet: 92 Mbps Down and 10Mbps Up

Should be more than enough power for my computer to handle streaming.


OBS Settings (the most vital)

Resolution: 1280 x 720

Max Bitrate: 2200

Use CBR: Yes

Enable CBR Padding: Yes

Nvidia NVENC: Yes

Codec: ACC

Audio Bitrate: 160

FMS URL: EU Stockholm, SE (where I live)

FPS: 48

Resolution Downscale: No

NVENC Preset: Automatic

Encoding Profile: Main

Keyframe Interval: 2

Use CFR: Yes

If there are any more settings you need to know, I'd be happy to provide you with them.
The game I stream the most is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. An Actionpacked game which (for a good quality stream) requires high bitrate and preferbly 60 FPS. My Computer can handle it, but I don't want my viewers to be unable to watch my stream due to buffering several times a minute.


I look forward to your response, and hopefully we can work this matter out.

Kind Regards
Stefan "FOXYtime" Rehnfeldt"
 
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Tigerslice

New Member
I have the exact same problem. Try it out on hitbox.tv it worked flawlessly for me. I think it's got something to do with Twitch :S I already sent them an email. if I can fix it, I'll post here

(wanna follow trade btw?)
 
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FOXYtime

New Member
I've already e-mailed twitch regarding this issue, as you see in this post. All though their answer was underwhelming. They essentially replyed with help for viewers, not for the streamer, and yet there were no "out of the box" ideas they wrote down so the issue is yet to be resolved.
 
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AndehX

Member
Yes, at least one person posts about this issue every day here, and they all get the same answer. It's Twitch, and there is nothing you can do about it unfortunately. Just accept it, or stream somewhere else.
 
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Tigerslice

New Member
That's crazy. So unless you're partnered you can't stream (to get partnered)??
I am streaming with really low bitrates(1800), 30 fps and 720p I'm getting choppy CONSTANTLY. I just can't stream. No matter where the server is that I am using... Are you telling me I just can't do what I want to do, cause "***** you" :(?
 
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AndehX

Member
No, not at all. It's not a man made restriction put in place by Twitch, its just the nature of the website, it's size and its traffic. Some users get a nice clean connection to Twitch. Fortunately I am one of them. I can stream at 3500 bitrate and nobody seems to have any issues. Others, are routed through high traffic servers and whatnot, so theres nothing that can be done about it. It's basically a lottery weather you get a good connection to Twitch or not.
 
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Tigerslice

New Member
So does this mean I'm Sh*t out of luck? There isn't a single thing I can do? I can't just accept this. Do I need to change my ISP or how can I make this work?
 
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Osiris

Active Member
AndehX said:
No, not at all. It's not a man made restriction put in place by Twitch, its just the nature of the website, it's size and its traffic. Some users get a nice clean connection to Twitch. Fortunately I am one of them. I can stream at 3500 bitrate and nobody seems to have any issues. Others, are routed through high traffic servers and whatnot, so theres nothing that can be done about it. It's basically a lottery weather you get a good connection to Twitch or not.
Click to expand...

Well not entirely true, this is because of the way Twitch treats low viewercount streams, they don't propagate the streams to all their locations, resulting in viewers getting the data from a San Francisco Twitch server.

Tigerslice said:
So does this mean I'm Sh*t out of luck? There isn't a single thing I can do? I can't just accept this. Do I need to change my ISP or how can I make this work?
Click to expand...

It has absolutely nothing to do with your connection, absolutely nothing.
 
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Tigerslice

New Member
It's totally obvious that people with more viewers/followers get the better end of the connections. Twitch is a business afterall.
But how am I supposed to get access to the better servers or whatnot, if I cannot build a viewerbase?? If my stream starts buffering and lagging every 10-15 minutes, nobody wants to stay and watch it.

I know this is just me being whiny, but I spent the whole weekend trying to get my stream to work, without succeeding. I am QUITE frustrated.

If there is any piece of help/information you can give to me - please :(
 
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Osiris

Active Member
Not everyone will get buffering and not everyone will get buffering to the same degree. It's annoying, but it's outside of your control.
 
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Dougalug

New Member
Hello, I just signed up because I was having an issue with my stream buffering all the time when my friends trying to watch it. I used an ethernet plug. Basically having an ethernet plug into my main electricity in the house. The signal would then go through the mains to the other plug to then plug into the router. This is a very crappy way to have your internet connected and i changed mine to just a normal ethernet cat 6 cable. Now it seems to be running good not really buffering for people. So if your not connected via ethernet or even if you are, try a different method of connecting to the internet, it may fix the problem however I have no idea... just a suggestion. So yeah, not really anything to do with OBS from what i've been seeing.

TL:DR I changed my internet connection method to ethernet cable and no one buffers on my stream. Try different methods of connectivity
 
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dping

Active Member
@Dougalug can you post your logfile just so I can rule out one thing? make sure it is a log from you streaming for 5 minutes or more.
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