In today’s digital age, more and more people are going into live-streaming, and most of them are making a living out of it. They can either be providing consultations via Zoom, participating in online multiplayer games, and more, and most of these online activities can revolve around live-streaming them for increasing views and reach.

But imagine if their activities were restricted due to the disruption in the internet connection. Most of the live-streamers are familiar with it because they had to deal with it at some point. That’s why you are and we are happy to oblige. Read on to find tips on how you can reduce lag so that it doesn’t interfere with your live-streaming activities.

Types of Lag

Before we move on to the tips and tricks, you need to understand the two types of lag that you encounter while live-streaming;

Network Lag

The kind of lag that we are all familiar with, and usually when you talk about experiencing lag, you mean the network lag.

It is also referred to as the ping. The speed at which data is transmitted between a computer and a server is called ping or latency. When the pings are low, the speed at which the data is transmitted between your computer and a remote server is fast. But when the ping is high, then the internet connection is affected, leading to lag in the network connection.

Graphic Lag

Another type of lag that you experience when streaming live videos is called graphic lag.

As the name suggests, graphic lag refers to the speed at which data and information are being shown on the computer screen. For instance, during gaming, you might experience a lag in the connection between your game and the controller.

Hence, graphic lag is when it will take much longer for input to be registered by your computer and produce results in a delayed manner. During live streaming of your game, if you press the ‘fire’ button, it might take a few seconds until the action is performed on the screen.

How to Reduce Lag for Live-Streaming

Now that you understand the types of lags you experience while live streaming, it will be much easier for you to know how to apply the following tips;

Get a Good Internet Connection

This is the most obvious solution. You need to have a good internet connection to be able to stream your online activities live i.e. at least 4 Mbps for streaming in HD. If your current internet plan doesn’t support your live streaming smoothly, then it means that it is time for an upgrade. Also, keep in mind the online activities being performed by other devices at home and taking up all the limited bandwidth.

We suggest you go for Xfinity internet connection as well as their internet speeds and reasonable pricing. Reach out to Xfinity customer service at https://www.localcabledeals.com/xfinity/customer-service, let them know your live-streaming requirement and they’ll hook you up with a reliable internet plan!

Use Wired Connection

This is one of the most overlooked answers to preventing lags in your live streaming. Most of your live-streams are laggy because there was a problem with the internet connection or your computer was overloaded.

The preferred way for lag-free live streaming is a wired connection, if possible. Connect your laptop or PC to the modem with the help of an Ethernet cable. Some laptops may not have Ethernet ports, but you can connect via a USB adapter.

Check Streaming Settings

Sometimes you cannot afford to upgrade your monthly internet plan because you don’t have the budget for it. That’s fine, there’s still a way around it. You can try changing the settings on the software that you are using to live-stream. Know that most software may not have this option to change the settings.

But take the example of OBS, a live-streaming software that is free to use. If you are experiencing lagging during your live streaming, change the output settings in OBS to 720p (resolution: 12880×720). This quality is not bad for live-streaming and most of your audience will not notice the difference in quality either. Also, try putting the video bitrate down; if your streaming video quality is set to 720p, then the bitrate should be at 35000kbps and it will still show an excellent image.

Delete Files

There might be a lot of applications and files running in your computer background. You need to close them or delete them if you don’t use them anymore. It would really help your computer to carry out the live streaming as smoothly as possible.

There might also be other activities taking up the internet bandwidth, CPU processing power, and disk space. If you have apps like Google Sync or Back-Up transferring large files over the internet. That is bound to slow down your upload speed.

Final Thoughts

Experiencing lag during live streaming is common and is bound to happen. Naturally, you feel disturbed and interruptions are always bad. But there are always some things you can try to minimize the lags. Some of which have already been detailed above!