Broadcasting, Live Streaming Hardware, Compare BoxCast, Live Streaming Software
BoxCast Team • April 11, 2025
This post is part of a 3-part series exploring how different encoders handle tough network conditions. In this article, we’re focusing on prolonged packet loss—but stay tuned for the others, where we’ll tackle sudden bandwidth drops and full-on internet outages. Because let’s be real: streaming isn’t always smooth sailing.
Prolonged periods of packet loss in live streaming may seem like a rare occurrence, but they are more common than you think and can have a significant impact on the quality of a live broadcast. As packet loss causes parts of the video and audio to go missing, the result is often a choppy or completely unwatchable stream. To understand how various encoders perform under such conditions, we put eight different encoders to the test to see which ones are best equipped to maintain a smooth stream.
More Prevalent Than You Think
Most Common Causes
Inside the Test: Setup, Conditions, and Goals
Results: How Each Encoder Handled the Packet Loss
Frequently Asked Questions
Final Thoughts + Further Reading
Want more real-world streaming tests?
Packet loss occurs when data being sent over a network fails to reach its destination. In streaming terms, it has to do with trying to send picture perfect audio and video to a server but losing part of it along the way. This can happen gradually, with small amounts of data lost over an extended period, or all at once, where large chunks of data are lost in a single moment. Regardless of the scenario, packet loss results in a disruption of the smooth flow of data, which has the potential to severely impact the quality of a live stream, making it choppy or completely unwatchable.
In future blogs, we'll discuss the impact of severe packet loss in which the network drops to a low bitrate or even cuts out entirely. However, in this article, we want to focus on another common issue: what Apple's Network Link Conditioner refers to as a "Very Bad Network." This occurs when there’s a consistent loss of packets — 10% or more — over a longer period of time. It’s less of a dramatic failure and more of a steady disruption, and it’s far more common than you might think. To get specific, we’ll next explore the real-life scenarios that lead to such persistent packet loss, highlighting how these seemingly small disruptions can cause significant issues over time.
Even if your ISP’s vast network is 99% reliable, problems can still creep in at the “last mile”—the final stretch between the street and your location. Sometimes, the issue can even lie within an ISP device inside your building. Whether it’s a misconfiguration, an overloaded system, or a minor fault in the connection, these small hiccups can translate to ongoing disruptions in your broadcasts.
Several common hardware-related problems can lead to streaming packet loss:
Network devices have limited space to hold packets before forwarding them. When multiple devices compete for bandwidth, this space can fill up. If too much data arrives too quickly — whether from ISP congestion or local network traffic — the overflow forces the network to drop excess packets. This is especially common in high-traffic environments or when multiple bandwidth-hungry applications are running at the same time.
Not all internet traffic is always treated equally. Some networks prioritize certain types of data — like video calls, security systems, or business applications — while pushing other traffic, like your live stream, to the back of the line. If your stream isn’t recognized as high-priority or comes from an unclassified source, it may be given less bandwidth than you expect, leading to packet loss and lower stream quality.
To manage congestion, ISPs sometimes enforce rate limits—either during peak usage hours or when troubleshooting network performance. When this happens, data is intentionally restricted, and if your stream exceeds the allocated bandwidth, packets may be dropped to keep traffic within the enforced limits.
Using a cellular hotspot for streaming is a gamble. Speeds fluctuate constantly, and upload bandwidth is often limited from the start. In areas with weak signal strength or heavy network congestion, these issues only get worse, leading to frequent packet loss and an unreliable stream.
Overall, a steady dose of packet loss can sneak into your stream from just about anywhere. Regardless of the cause, however, the result is always the same: missing data. When enough data is lost, your stream starts to suffer with key portions of audio and video missing.
To get a concrete idea about how ongoing packet loss impacts a live stream, we'll next simulate very bad network conditions for 8 different encoders to see which of them will give you the best chance of still maintaining a perfect stream.
Stream Duration: 15 minutes
Test Event: 10% Ongoing Packet Loss
Event Timing: 5:00 – 8:00 mark
Upload Speed: 8Mbps
Encoder Bitrate: 4Mbps
Total Stream Downtime (Measured in Seconds)
Each encoder streamed at 4Mbps with an 8Mbps upload speed. At the 5-minute mark, we introduced a sustained 10% packet loss for three minutes, then restored a stable connection at minute eight. This test was designed to assess whether each encoder could maintain a smooth stream or if viewers experienced disruptions.
To create a controlled and accurate test environment, we used Apple’s Network Link Conditioner, a tool that precisely mimics real-world network instability. Most encoders utilized the SRT protocol, while the BoxCast Spark leveraged BoxCast Flow, and the Resi Ray depended on RSP.
First off, a big congratulations to the Blackmagic ATEM Mini, Epiphan Pearl Nano, and BoxCast Spark. These three encoders handled the three-minute period of high packet loss flawlessly—viewers wouldn’t have noticed a thing, not even a hiccup.
On the flip side, the Resi Ray struggled the most, displaying a spinning buffer wheel for a full 3 minutes and 19 seconds before playback resumed. Even after the network stabilized, it continued to experience intermittent buffering throughout the remainder of the broadcast.
The remaining encoders had their own challenges, but in a different way—struggling both when packet loss began and when normal network conditions returned. Each one initially dropped the stream for 6 to 12 seconds at the onset of packet loss and again for 5 to 13 seconds once the network stabilized.
While the total stream time lost for these encoders ranged from 12 to 25 seconds over the three-minute event, these results are more concerning than they might seem. If packet loss were to occur intermittently throughout a live broadcast, these encoders would repeatedly cut out for 5 to 10 seconds each time packet loss began and ended—making for a frustrating viewing experience, and likely losing a good portion of viewers.
One final takeaway is that while SRT helped two encoders pass the test, it didn’t prevent four others from failing. This highlights an important point: the same protocol won’t always deliver the same results across different encoders. Put differently, sometimes the encoder that you use makes all of the difference when adversity challenges your live stream.
Packet loss in live streaming occurs when data being sent over the network fails to reach its destination, leading to missing portions of audio and video.
Depending on the amount of it, packet loss can cause interruptions in the smooth flow of data, resulting in choppy, distorted, or unwatchable streams due to missing audio or video.
Packet loss can be caused by network issues, faulty hardware, network congestion, and more. Chances of it occurring can be reduced by improving network infrastructure, and in live streaming, by using a high performing streaming protocol and video encoder.
Based on our testing, we have noticed that SRT performance varies widely among different video encoding options when faced with network tests like severe drop in network, complete network loss, or prolonged data packet loss.
Based on our testing, we have identified that the Blackmagic ATEM Mini and Epiphan Pearl Nano using SRT protocol and the BoxCast Spark using the BoxCast Flow protocol perform best when faced with significant amounts of packet loss.
Even with the latest and most advanced streaming protocols, popular video encoders still struggle to maintain seamless streaming during packet loss events, particularly at the onset and resolution of those disruptions. This can result in moments of buffering, freezing, or stream cut-outs, which can be frustrating for viewers and lead to loss of audience engagement. However, there is hope. Through testing, we identified a trio of encoders—the Blackmagic ATEM Mini, Epiphan Pearl Nano, and BoxCast Spark—that were able to flawlessly handle 3 minutes of 10% packet loss without any noticeable disruptions, setting them apart from the competition.
While advanced streaming protocols like SRT can play an important role in mitigating packet loss, it is clear that the encoder itself plays a pivotal role in ensuring a smooth experience. Therefore, when faced with prolonged packet loss, it’s crucial to select an encoder that can rise to the challenge. With the right hardware in hand, viewers will enjoy an uninterrupted and high-quality stream, regardless of the network challenges.
This test is just one piece of the puzzle. Stay tuned for the rest of the series to see how top encoders perform during sudden bandwidth drops and total internet blackouts. Because when the network gets rough, your encoder needs to be tougher.
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