[VIDEO] How to Live Stream Beer Tasting – Road to Success

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, we’ve all seen Speedify being used successfully by remote workers, for distance learning and for broadcasting events. And speaking of events - remember those beer tasting classes / contests? 

We had one of our own here at Speedify as a teambuilding activity, joining Doug Piper of Gourmet Brewing on Zoom. And then we found out he has been using Speedify long before we reached out. Here’s his story and how Speedify helps him succeed in what he does.

Doug is an electrical engineer by profession, but has been a beer aficionado for some time, which led him to become a certified beer Cicerone.

He knew that if he wanted to reach a broader audience and interact with other beer experts who were mostly outside of his local area, he had to use the online space. So he got in touch with several beer authors and experts (John Palmer, John Mallett, etc.) and managed to run some beer-related live streams and video podcasts, building an audience of passionate beer enthusiasts along the way. 

First, Doug looked at some hardware-based bonding solutions, including a LiveU setup. These would have set him back hundreds of dollars without having a clear guarantee of what he was going to get. Just when he had ordered the hardware, before opening the boxes, he heard of Speedify and decided to give it a try.

He had some concerns regarding the extra burden Speedify would put on the processor of the system handling the live streaming. But upon exchanging some emails with the Speedify support team, he went on to try it.

“When I installed it, it was really like magic because all of a sudden I doubled my speed because I was bonding a standalone hotspot that I had placed in my attic, which was mostly a backup. My network was fully accessible.

I'm not a network engineer, and Speedify made it all easy because it was beyond me up until Speedify pulled it all together. It was really like flipping a light switch after I installed it. Speedify was kind of like ‘wow, my speed has really doubled.’ I can see my whole network. My processor is not burdened at all.”

Doug has a live streaming setup with 2 connections being combined at once with Speedify. He has managed to avoid all the network issues he was having before. He is now planning to host larger events, as the online infrastructure issues have been solved, allowing for much more than a simple HD video stream.

“It was funny, during an event, unbeknownst to me, I had a cable running under my desk that I was apparently standing on. I pulled my network cable loose and I didn't know it. Fortunately Speedify was on another connection. We were running the whole event on my hotspot, which is three stories up in the attic and I didn't even know it.

I never realized that I had lost all network connection because Speedify just made it so seamless I never knew it. As a matter of fact, I started looking and I asked myself “why is my network down and why am I still seeing people on screen?”

And then I realized Speedify had just completely switched over and I was oblivious to it, so it was really neat.”

If you’re having connectivity issues with your internet, try using 2 connections simultaneously. Along with the home internet, you certainly have a smartphone with a cellular data plan. So why not put those two connections together to work for you? You’ll get more reliable and faster Internet. Plus extra privacy for your online activities thanks to Speedify’s encryption capabilities.

When you don’t have two connections available, Speedify can still help. Its powerful error correction algorithms minimize packet loss on wireless networks. So if you’re wondering why that public Wi-Fi is so slow, try connecting to it via Speedify. You’re welcome!