Webcast with 300 Kbps upload bandwidth

I'm (as STS) studying the feasibility of webcasting district conference to the other 3 Sardinian branches (Italy).
Speed test results to CHQ (http://speedtest.lds.org ) :
Download Speed: 2 Mbps
Upload Speed: 300 kbps
Tests done with other sites (like speedtest.net) give similar results.
The meetinghouse network is behind a Cisco Pix 501 firewall.

I know there's a 400 Kbps upload requirement for "good" quality video, would anyway be feasible webcast in that setting with not too degraded video?

I've been able to successfully run a webcast (albeit fairly poor quality video) over a 256kbps uplink using the webcast software. Audio was fine, and in the end that's the crucial component of the webcast. I'm in Australia, so I imagine my bandwidth conditions (distance from SLC, etc.) are somewhat similar to yours. I hope this gives you some hope!

lionelwalters wrote:I've been able to successfully run a webcast (albeit fairly poor quality video) over a 256kbps uplink using the webcast software. Audio was fine, and in the end that's the crucial component of the webcast. I'm in Australia, so I imagine my bandwidth conditions (distance from SLC, etc.) are somewhat similar to yours. I hope this gives you some hope!

I did a test with a 128K upload and when I used the software, I had to set it below 100K and it worked fine, but the video wasn't great. I agree with Lionelwalters that audio is the key and we are working to make ours better.

There are a couple of things you want to avoid. The first is to leave about 25% of the bandwidth available so that if something "burst" or request something over the connection, you will have room for it. Also, you won't run the risk of losing packets because the bandwidth is saturated.

The second item is that you want to make sure that NO ONE ELSE uses the network or Internet connection. You will need sole access to the Internet so that you know that you are getting all the bandwidth that you can use.

Hope this helps.
Terry

harddrive wrote:I did a test with a 128K upload and when I used the software, I had to set it below 100K and it worked fine, but the video wasn't great. I agree with Lionelwalters that audio is the key and we are working to make ours better.

I am able to run a webcast from our building which has the following speeds:
Download Speed: 1626 kbps (203.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 358 kbps (44.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
I use the 2.0 client and use either the 100k or 200k video settings

There are a couple of things you want to avoid. The first is to leave about 25% of the bandwidth available so that if something "burst" or request something over the connection, you will have room for it. Also, you won't run the risk of losing packets because the bandwidth is saturated.
The second item is that you want to make sure that NO ONE ELSE uses the network or Internet connection. You will need sole access to the Internet so that you know that you are getting all the bandwidth that you can use.

I agree. I unplug the wireless access points when I am webcasting to prevent others from connecting and causing problems with the webcast (as has happened before).

Aaron Z

Thank you all for sharing your experiences!