I'm planning to livestream a game on YouTube. If someone watches the stream on a TV in another room while connected to the same Wi-Fi network, how much delay will there usually be between my actions and what appears on the TV? My internet connection is around 200 Mbps, though I'm not sure how much upload speed affects the result.
3 Answers
In good conditions, a low-latency stream might be roughly a few seconds behind, but it can vary depending on YouTube’s processing, your ISP’s route, network congestion, and the TV or streaming app buffering the video. The only reliable way to know your actual delay is to run a test stream and compare the game with another device or camera pointed at the screen.
Being on the same home network won’t eliminate the delay. The stream still has to travel from your computer to YouTube, get processed and encoded, and then be sent back to the TV. YouTube’s latency setting matters a lot: normal latency can be tens of seconds, while low-latency modes are often only a few seconds behind. Your upload speed and connection stability are more important than your download speed for sending the stream.
The speed rating alone doesn’t determine the delay. A stable, fast upload connection helps, but livestream platforms intentionally buffer video to prevent interruptions. If you need nearly instant video, a direct local solution such as game streaming over your home network is more suitable than sending the video through YouTube.
Exactly—check your upload speed separately. Some cable connections have plenty of download bandwidth but relatively poor upload, while fiber usually performs much better for livestreaming.