A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular

Paul Anderegg · November 5th, 2016, 01:39 AM

I was at a fatal house fire scene yesterday, and when the live trucks arrived and 3-5 cellular backpacks powered up, my computers FTP upload speed slowed to around 25KB/s! I have the latest LTE Advanced carrier aggravation (hehe) so I get typically 60-80Mbps DL/25-25Mbps UL in the same area, but when those 10Mbps bonded systems light up the local tower, all bets are off. I don't know how much overhead it takes to maintain a 10Mbps bonded stream from 6-8 modems, from 3-5 systems, but must be a lot.

I use standard MPEG-TS streaming out of JVC and Sony camcorders for off air station streaming from the field, and even with a 25-30Mbps LTE connection, I can and do get pretty bad image lock and freeze if I pan around.

Paul

Andrew Smith · November 5th, 2016, 04:24 AM

So how did you get your footage out in the end?

Andrew

Chris Harding · November 5th, 2016, 08:31 AM

Interesting as that would be live news so one would need to get it out pronto. I damaged my HDMI port on my camera with a stupid microHDMI cable a few weeks ago just an hour before a wedding ceremony and all I could do was record to card, then rush back to the office and upload the files to my CDN ..but of course that became a delayed broadcast (it was about 1.5 hours late) It's a tough situation!!

Tuy Le · January 30th, 2017, 07:00 PM

Depending on the area... in San Jose, California. I used Verizon MIFI 4G LTE and was able to Live Streaming at 720P (H.264 codec) to youtube for couple events. (no internet wire available).

Phil Holder · January 31st, 2017, 02:13 AM

Dajero, TVu, LiveU all use telco 4g,3g dongles to send data down the path of least resistance. You need a bonding router or software at the other end to put all that data back together. You can vary the bit rate and adjust the delay of your feed. So if you are in an area were cell use is limited you can use a 20 second say delay, cache your feed at a lower bit rate and enhance your chance of the signal being sent. I'm not sure if you can use these devices for streaming to youtube etc because of the software require to piece the signal back together. They usually cost somewhere between $20-$35k depending on what you get. There are devices from Teradek that you can go straight to internet with.

Tuy Le · January 31st, 2017, 03:14 AM

On Teradek VidiU Pro with subscription to Sharelink ($19.9/mth) to bond multi internet connections, up to 4 iphone to support the bandwidth on top of wire or wifi.

November 5th, 2016, 01:39 AM	#16
Paul Anderegg Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: San Diego, Califonia Posts: 1,559	Re: A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular I was at a fatal house fire scene yesterday, and when the live trucks arrived and 3-5 cellular backpacks powered up, my computers FTP upload speed slowed to around 25KB/s! I have the latest LTE Advanced carrier aggravation (hehe) so I get typically 60-80Mbps DL/25-25Mbps UL in the same area, but when those 10Mbps bonded systems light up the local tower, all bets are off. I don't know how much overhead it takes to maintain a 10Mbps bonded stream from 6-8 modems, from 3-5 systems, but must be a lot. I use standard MPEG-TS streaming out of JVC and Sony camcorders for off air station streaming from the field, and even with a 25-30Mbps LTE connection, I can and do get pretty bad image lock and freeze if I pan around. Paul

November 5th, 2016, 04:24 AM	#17
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,016	Re: A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular So how did you get your footage out in the end? Andrew

November 5th, 2016, 08:31 AM	#18
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular Interesting as that would be live news so one would need to get it out pronto. I damaged my HDMI port on my camera with a stupid microHDMI cable a few weeks ago just an hour before a wedding ceremony and all I could do was record to card, then rush back to the office and upload the files to my CDN ..but of course that became a delayed broadcast (it was about 1.5 hours late) It's a tough situation!!

January 30th, 2017, 07:00 PM	#19
Tuy Le Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 96	Re: A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular Depending on the area... in San Jose, California. I used Verizon MIFI 4G LTE and was able to Live Streaming at 720P (H.264 codec) to youtube for couple events. (no internet wire available).

January 31st, 2017, 02:13 AM	#20
Phil Holder Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perth Western Australia Posts: 70	Re: A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular Dajero, TVu, LiveU all use telco 4g,3g dongles to send data down the path of least resistance. You need a bonding router or software at the other end to put all that data back together. You can vary the bit rate and adjust the delay of your feed. So if you are in an area were cell use is limited you can use a 20 second say delay, cache your feed at a lower bit rate and enhance your chance of the signal being sent. I'm not sure if you can use these devices for streaming to youtube etc because of the software require to piece the signal back together. They usually cost somewhere between $20-$35k depending on what you get. There are devices from Teradek that you can go straight to internet with.

January 31st, 2017, 03:14 AM	#21
Tuy Le Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 96	Re: A real live lesson on why you don't stream with WiFi or 4G cellular On Teradek VidiU Pro with subscription to Sharelink ($19.9/mth) to bond multi internet connections, up to 4 iphone to support the bandwidth on top of wire or wifi.