Have you ever experienced buffering when watching a video online? It’s often the case when a stream is sent over an unstable Internet connection. Buffering, lagging, connection drops, etc., are issues we’ve likely all experienced as viewers. The clarity will be demoted to a lower resolution if you’re using dynamic transcoding. If you’re offline for a long period, the live stream will be dropped altogether. For most of us, it’s obviously a no-go. Nobody wants to be interrupted every few minutes while their video struggles to load.
Social media like Facebook and YouTube gives bird lovers a great opportunity to share their birding experience with others more effortlessly, but the need for a speedy, reliable network is greater than ever since the quality of a live stream can directly affect viewer experience and revenue. Therefore, the faster and the more reliable the network, the more professional the live stream will be. To make your WiFi bird box camera ready for streaming on YouTube, you’ll need: 1) a robust network connection and 2) free software for video recording and live streaming like OBS Studio.
How to optimize your network for live streaming?
Here, we’ve summarized some tips to improve your network experience with live streaming.
1. Match your Internet speed to your stream quality.
If you or your viewers are experiencing buffering during the live stream, the issue is most likely to stem from your Internet speed or theirs. Before you go live, you should test the upload speed of your network so you can choose the right setting for your stream. In general, the minimum amount of upload speed for each WiFi bird box camera is 1.5 Mbps with a bitrate between 1,000 and 2,500. To stream in Full HD (1080p) on YouTube, you’ll need at least 6-10 Mbps upload speed. And do you know the required upload speed to stream a 3MP bird box camera online? Approximately 8-12 Mbps. So if your bandwidth is less than desirable, the best workaround is to lower your resolution to reduce buffering.
2. Stream in a closed network just for yourself.
Whenever possible, we highly recommend you avoid crowded areas and live streaming on shared networks. If someone else is using the same WiFi network you’re streaming on, it will affect the available bandwidth, and there tends to be a slowdown for everyone. Trust me, it’s much better to stream your bird box camera on a private network or get a closed connection just for yourself. When there are fewer devices connected, you’ll have a much higher chance of consistently getting the necessary upload speed. If possible, you can also create a network that is dedicated to live streams only. In public, you can use mobile hotspots to get a reliable WiFi network for your broadcast.
How to live stream your bird box camera when WiFi is spotty?
High-quality WiFi has become an expectation at any venue. And for a hassle-free live stream, and more stable connectivity, a reliable WiFi network is highly needed. But if you suffer from a poor network, you’d better go with a bird box camera that has strong WiFi connectivity.
The most common reason for a choppy video is the signal strength drops as the distance from the router to your bird box camera increases. To extend the coverage of your WiFi network, the best solution is to install a WiFi repeater. It works by receiving a WiFi signal from your existing router, amplifying it, and then transmitting the boosted signal to your WiFi bird box camera so as to enhance the network performance of your system. With a WiFi repeater, you can effectively double the coverage area of your WiFi network and extend the distance to your garden. And we’ve specially designed a model: WiFi Bird Box Camera with Wireless Repeater (4921-07) that supports a wireless transmission range of 30 meters to capture the interesting live feeds of the nesting birds in your backyard.
For someone who is looking for a more robust Internet connection, you can’t go wrong with the long-range wireless outdoor IP bird box camera (4956-11) which features an excellent wall-penetrating signal strength and a transmission range of 200-300m. With the Xtreme WiFi technology, you can place your bird box camera at any desired place (natural habitats, forests, parks, etc.) to monitor the animals undisturbed as long as it’s within the transmission range. Moreover, you can use Ethernet whenever it’s possible to get rid of signal drops and interference factors. With the PoE technology, both power and data (video+audio signals) can be transmitted simultaneously to your Bird Box Camera HD Network Cable Connection (4921-16) via a single Ethernet cable, and the maximum distance can reach up to 100 meters.
How to live stream a WiFi bird box camera to YouTube?
Now, follow the tutorial below to set up the live stream.
Before you begin
Make sure your wireless bird box camera is powered on, connected to your router and added to your computer (Windows or Mac). You will also need to install the OBS Studio on your computer to stream the video from your bird box camera to YouTube since it only accepts RTMP video stream while the bird box camera provides an RTSP stream. Please be aware that OBS Studio can only stream one camera at a time. If you need to stream If you don’t already have a YouTube account, you’ll need to set up one first. Once you have a YouTube account, you can create a channel and go live.
Find your bird box camera’s IP address
To access your WiFi bird box camera in the OBS Studio, you need to find out the IP address of your camera. And there are two ways to do so: 1) using ONVIF Device Manager (available on Windows only) and 2) using the VMS (Windows or Mac). In the first method, you need to install the ONVIF Device Manager on your PC, open it, click the camera entry in the ‘Device List’ and then click ‘Live Video’ under ‘NVT’. As long as your bird box camera and the program are connected to the same network, the correct IP address & RTSP stream will be displayed. If you only have a Mac available, you can find the IP address by using the program VMS. Once you have the program installed, you need to open it, go to ‘Device Manage’, then copy the URL of your WiFi bird box camera.
Copy the IP address to the OBS Studio
Now that you have the IP address of your WiFi bird box camera, you need to go back to your OBS Studio. Under the Sources, click the + button, choose ‘Media Source’ and set a name for the stream. Untick the ‘Local File’, paste your IP address into the input box, click OK and then you can see the video from your bird box camera on the OBS Studio.
Stream the bird box camera to YouTube
Now back to YouTube and go to ‘Live Control Room’. Create a new stream, make it public, add a description and click ‘Create Stream’. The ‘Stream setup help’ window will appear if this is your first time here. Click the Copy button next to ‘Stream Key’ to copy it, then go back to the OBS Studio. In the OBS Studio, go to File > Settings > Stream. Click OK, then select ‘Start Streaming’ at the bottom right of the screen and your live stream will start.
You probably won’t get many viewers right away, but you can have fun with it, finesse your editing and play with the settings until you get your target audience.
