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velocity7
join:2009-05-20

velocity7

Member

[Cable] My twitch.tv live stream keeps buffering

I'm on a 60/10 cable line, also saw similar issues back when it used to be 45/4. I can watch other twitch streams fine even at HD (source). But if I stream my own live video, even at 500 kbps, it ends up wanting to buffer every 30 seconds. Other people in the USA don't seem to have an issue watching it though.

The other weird part is that this only happens when I use OBS (Open Broadcaster Software); if I use the PS4's streaming function (even at highest upload quality) it's perfectly fine. Streaming using either OBS or a PS4 is fine if I use Ustream as well.

If it makes any difference, my twitch.tv isn't a partner account. (but it shouldn't matter... right?)

digiwth
join:2012-09-21
SmartRG SR808ac
Asus RT-AC86
SmartRG SR505N

digiwth

Member

Sounds like your OBS might not be configured correctly, since your PS4 streaming seems to work fine. Follow this guide:
»help.twitch.tv/customer/ ··· software




Not being a partner does limit your max bit-rate to 3500Kbps, that is about it.
velocity7
join:2009-05-20

1 edit

velocity7

Member

Well the thing is, my settings do match up with the guide, but it hasn't had any effect.

EDIT: Actually, 500 kbps does seem to be fine. But if I run 3500 kbps, it starts buffering a lot, even though I'm not saturating my upload (OBS comes up as green).

digiwth
join:2012-09-21
SmartRG SR808ac
Asus RT-AC86
SmartRG SR505N

digiwth to velocity7

Member

to velocity7
Are you using a geographically close ingest server? Is your computer wired, or wireless? You might be losing frames due to networking (it will show in the OBS status bar), try a new server or lower bit-rate (PS4 only streams at something like 1700Kbps).

Or your computer is simply too weak to both stream and play something at the same time.
velocity7
join:2009-05-20

1 edit

velocity7

Member

I'm in Toronto area, so I'm closest to say the New York server. I've tried many servers however, and I'm not losing frames in the final encode as other people can download it fine, it's just when I try to play it back while it's live, it likes to buffer too much. If I play the video back after it's been cached (say, in my play history), then it will play fine (assuming it's fully loaded).

Also, it's a Intel Core i7-2600K, overclocked to 4.2 GHz, wired. Using Very Fast Main encoding profile if you're wondering. It's streaming off a capture card connected to the PS3 or PS4. I've also tried using Nvidia's NVENC, but that hasn't improved it much at all.

EDIT: Tested at 1700 kbps and it doesn't seem to have buffering issues. I would like to be able to go at 3500 kbps or higher though to be able to do 720p60, otherwise what's the point in having 60/10? You can see the preview window here, the 3512 kbps area remains stable and green.

digiwth
join:2012-09-21
SmartRG SR808ac
Asus RT-AC86
SmartRG SR505N

digiwth

Member

I am assuming you're also velocity7 on Twitch as well, just went to your channel and see you're streaming your tests.

Watching your currently live stream, it looks silk smooth here, maybe it's just something to do with watching it on the computer streaming it?
velocity7
join:2009-05-20

velocity7

Member

Nah, if that were the case then my phone or laptop wouldn't have issues watching this either. And it would be very strange for me to have issues watching my own live stream, when I can watch others at source HD (like the SGDQ 2014 stream going on right now...)

digiwth
join:2012-09-21

digiwth

Member

Not sure then, I have 2 other streams running on top of yours and its showing no signs of dropped frames/buffering at all, and I'm on a relatively feeble 25/10 VDSL. Maybe a cable problem?
velocity7
join:2009-05-20

3 edits

velocity7

Member

I have just the SDHQ 2014 stream live right now and there don't seem to be any issues with that one either.

Also, seems like someone on Verizon FiOS also has a similar issue:
»help.twitch.tv/customer/ ··· rs-loads




EDIT: Adding some more load just to test. It looks like 720p60 in general is buffering a lot for some reason... trying with this stream right now.

EDIT 2: In general, it seems like Twitch just has major issues delivering anything greater than 3 Mbps to my connection when it's live. If it's an existing pre-recording, it will buffer very well and play back smoothly at the 60 fps I intended for it to play at. At this point I might as well leave it at that, because I get the feeling it's going to be either a routing issue, or Twitch not wanting to do anything about putting out high bandwidth, or both.

EDIT 3: As a heads up, I did an analysis on a quick livestream test I did and got these results. Clearly I'm not getting this download back when I'm watching it live, so I'm starting to suspect Twitch's routing is really miserable when it comes to this.
NBomb
join:2007-01-23
Etobicoke, ON

NBomb to velocity7

Member

to velocity7
hey velo. i know you said you used multiple servers, but try chicago. it's the one that pinged best for me.

to be sure, try this utility: »www.elvinelol.com/forums ··· V-server

i don't quite understand though - you're saying that stream in reality is fine (others watching it say it's smooth), but that it's choppy to you, playing back while you're also streaming? try playing it back on a different pc than the one you're streaming from (on your same network) and see if it still happens. i'm willing to bet it might just be too much load on your computer.
velocity7
join:2009-05-20

velocity7

Member

It's not that it's choppy, it's very smooth when I have it fully buffered. If I play a pre-recorded one like the videos in my "Past Broadcasts" section, it's perfectly smooth. But it seems more like if I play any stream that is over 3 Mbps from any stream that is live, 720p60 or not, it likes to buffer every 10 seconds or so.

Also, Chicago is the one I'm streaming to right now. See here. Also if you check the stream analyzer, my stream is perfectly fine when I'm uploading, and I can consistently maintain the 3 Mbps upload as well. It's Twitch that's not giving me the consistent 3 Mbps download, even when my router tells me that the total downstream at the time is pretty much empty save for the stream (and the stream for some reason ends up downloading at 2 Mbps or so...)
NBomb
join:2007-01-23
Etobicoke, ON

NBomb

Member

Okay, so the problem is downstream. Hmm.

The pings are kinda shitty, but that's for uploading, and I don't know that those are the same servers for streaming. You might want to run some long pings and traceroutes to see if you're getting a lot of packet loss.

My pings tend to be in the 5-20ms range for the North American servers, but I'm on DSL.