IRL Live Streaming Guide – Gear and Setup
A cheap IRL rig can look fine at home and fall apart on the street: one phone leans on one cell tower, and that tower gets crowded exactly where you are walking. Steady upload speed, not camera specs, keeps a walk-and-talk broadcast alive.
Speedify is an app that sends your stream over two or more internet connections at once (Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, wired Ethernet, Starlink and others), so one weak cell does not end the show. The two-connection part matters: on a single internet connection, Speedify works as an encrypted VPN and cannot stop that connection from dropping. This guide walks through a low-cost gear checklist and weighs Speedify against dedicated hardware that merges internet connections for you, so more of your money goes to cameras.
The Cheap IRL Streaming Setup Checklist
You don’t need much to live stream online. You can go for the budget with only your smartphone and the Twitch app. Or, for a more professional setup, the cheap IRL streaming setup would have to also include:
- Computer or mobile device that you would use for live streaming. For IRL, a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) is the practical choice. You can also use a dedicated streaming device like the LiveU Solo.
- Video camera: it should stream video at least 720p / 60 fps. You can go with your smartphone camera or with the GoPro live streaming functionality.
- Two or more cellular modems, for a faster and more reliable internet connection. Connect them directly to the streaming device if it supports multiple USB network adapters, or use a Raspberry Pi as a router that combines them.
- Software that can combine the connections available to you at once, such as Speedify. With two or more connections, a drop on one no longer ends the stream.
- Battery pack: get one with at least 20,000 mAh. Also check the rated power: it should be 100 Wh at most, to avoid issues when traveling by plane.
- Selfie stick or special camera mount for you to hold when streaming. Look for something with a stabilizer for smoother video.
- Backpack or something to carry all this equipment in an organized way. It’s even better if it’s waterproof.
- Streaming apps : these depend on the platform you stream to. Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Live each have their own app that should recognize the video camera so you can set it up for live streaming. Other options include Streamlabs OBS, Streamyard, Melon, Restream and Ecamm Live.
To IRL stream with a dedicated camera, the camera’s video has to reach the device that streams. Cameras with built-in live streaming, such as a GoPro, stream on their own over the phone’s connection; other cameras need an HDMI capture card, such as the Elgato Cam Link, plugged into a laptop or small computer that runs the encoder and Speedify.
Best IRL Streaming Setup on a Budget: Speedify Software vs Combining Hardware
Combining internet connections is key to a fast and reliable connection when live streaming, and it can be done in hardware or in software. You can choose a mixed hardware-software solution from companies like Peplink and Mushroom Networks, or the software-only approach of Speedify, which you can also run on a hardware device of your choice running Linux (Speedify on Linux needs a paid plan).
Many people choose solutions built on dedicated hardware, such as multi-WAN routers that combine connections or SD-WAN devices. If you’re planning a hybrid hardware-software solution, here are some things to consider.
- Performance: you will be limited by the performance of the hardware, and sometimes by its software. Your smartphones or computers may be able to go faster, but it won’t make any difference.
- Flexibility: will this solution still work if you change something in your setup?
- Scalability: hardware ages quickly. Does the solution include free hardware upgrades?
- Cost of implementation: hardware adds to the price of the final solution.
With a software-only solution like Speedify, the benefits are simpler: Speedify runs on the phone or computer you already stream from.
There are no flexibility or scalability issues tied to a box: when your devices change, Speedify moves with them. On cost, Speedify is a fraction of the price of mixed hardware-software solutions: the Individual plan is $89.99 a year.
Speedify Adds Encryption to a Cheap IRL Streaming Setup
Speedify doesn’t just get you a fast and reliable Internet connection when live streaming on a budget in real life. Speedify also protects you from compromised WiFi networks and snooping hackers. It uses advanced encryption to make sure your private data stays under your control.
Before Speedify, users often had to choose between security and speed. Speedify was designed with speed as one of its primary goals, so with two or more connections combined you do not have to give up speed for security. You can have both.
With two or more internet connections combined, a weak cell or a dropped connection no longer has to end your IRL stream. Speedify is the software part of a cheap IRL streaming setup: Speedify combines the connections you carry so the stream keeps going.
Speedify
Get started with Speedify today.
Speedify combines Wi-Fi, 4G/5G cellular, Ethernet, Starlink and satellite into one faster, more reliable internet connection. Free to try: 5 GB a month with a free account. No credit card required.
🚀 Speed
Faster uploads and downloads, because Speedify uses all your internet connections at once.
📶 Stability
If one internet connection drops, Speedify moves your traffic to the others in milliseconds.
🔒 Security
AES-256 encryption on every internet connection, on any network you join.
15M+ downloads worldwide. 75K+ five-star reviews on iOS and Android.