6 tips on improving your wifi for your lives

If you are experiencing glitchy lives when using Overlays, please first test if you're getting the same glitchiness when going live directly on Facebook. If you're only seeing it with Overlays, feel free to get in touch with us so we can investigate.

Here are some general tips:

1. Make sure your phone is on wifi

Wi-Fi is usually faster than your data plan. So make sure your phone's internet connection is on wifi before you go live.

2. Check your wifi speed

Google for "internet speed test" to measure your actual download and upload speed on the phone you use to go live. You should see something like this:

You'll want to measure this in the exact location/room that you'll do your lives from. You should get at least 5Mbps upload speed. Anything lower might not result in a smooth live video. If you're not getting 5Mbps, please contact your internet service provider to let them know you need this upload speed for your business.

3. Ensure your phone is plugged in and isn't overloaded

Close your other apps and ensure your phone's battery is at a good level.

An incoming call or text can also disconnect you in the middle of your live video. You should also put your phone in "Do not disturb" mode so that an incoming phone call won't end your live stream.

4. Ensure nothing interferes with your connection

Any other devices on your Wi-Fi network can slow down the stream. When you're live, only your phone and laptop should be connected to the Wi-Fi connection

5. Get an ethernet adapter

If your wifi is flaky and isn't always giving you high upload speeds throughout the day, plugging directly into your modem will help. Use an all-in-one lightning to ethernet adapter to connect your phone directly to your internet modem.

6. Check your router

If your Wi-Fi speed from your internet service provider is getting you at least 5Mbps, you'll want to check your router. 

Cheap routers can start to choke when you're streaming. You may want to run the internet speed test after connecting directly to your modem, and then after connecting to your router to see if the router is slowing you down.

You can also check your router to see if it offers 5 GHz. Newer routers can operate on two different frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. And switching frequencies might help.