[2008 Convention] Have bandwidth, will stream

[Tim Eason]

Originally it looked like we would only be able to stream one of the breakout sessions live because we only have one streaming unit. Well it looks like we may be able to stream all four breakout sessions live simultaneously. We won't know for sure until we get there and make sure we don't choke on bandwidth -- but it's a possibility! Note that the streaming quality won't be what the recorded quality will be. It may not look as good live than when you watch it after we've uploaded it.

Having all four breakouts streaming at the same time means that you can interact with the class through our chatroom.... and you can bounce from class to class if you want to!

[Mark Finley]

Keep in mind that one of the classrooms are wired for internet access yet... so any streaming would have to be done wirelessly.

I'll run a speed test at the church sometime and see what we get on a normal weekday. It's standard cable internet, not a T1 line or anything.

[Tim Eason]

I figured that. I picked up 3 wireless G cameras that can be assigned their own IP addresses and can be accessed via the 'Net. It should work okay (not great) as long as we have enough bandwidth to push 4 video feeds through at 320x240/15fps... or so...

[[Admin] danroth]

don't forget those of us on-site can be bandwidth hogs too!

last year, with a moderate-sized on-site group, we had to ask people to not stream the proceedings to their own laptops in order to prevent traffic jams.

[Tim Eason]

Originally Posted by danroth

last year, with a moderate-sized on-site group, we had to ask people to not stream the proceedings to their own laptops in order to prevent traffic jams.

Well.. YA! Why would you want to stream something you're watching live anyway? I'll make two pages -- one with chat and stream and one with chat only. That should cut it down a bit.

[Mark Finley]

I was one who had the stream page up on my laptop, but I paused the picture so I could see what the chat was all about. I dont think that hogged too much bandwidth.

How were you planning on recording the classes? To DV and then upload them later? You can record streams using ustream.

[Tim Eason]

Ah -- so you're the culprit! The chat room won't eat up too much bandwidth.

I'm recording the classes using HD digital camcorders (I've already bought them) that record strait to SD cards. What we will do is -- after every class the Stream Team will switch out the SD cards in the cameras then upload them as-is to CMN. I don't think we can feed the streaming cameras through ustream since they are IP based. I'll try it out when I get to that stage.

[[Admin] danroth]

other folks were doing lots of bandwidth-hogging things too,
and we had to ask them to back off.

I saw folks uploading and downloading large videos,
or entire worship services.

[kbob]

is it possible to have a two tiered access, with general access having limited bandwidth during class and keynote times. Speakers/stream team would have a higher access rate?

Or too much infrastructure for a simple conference where you can ask everyone to just throttle down?

You could have say an 802.11 A for the streaming, and a more generic 802.11 g for the more generic access, for instance.

[Tim Eason]

What's "A"? I thought most devices were b/g or "quasi n". I'll probably bring my wireless g router and maybe a booster. We'll have to just police people and make sure they know that we need the bandwidth. The only other thing I can think of is to use some simple encryption and only give it to people on a need basis.

[[Admin] skstarkiller]

I'll probably just use my verizon wireless air card so I am off the church grid anyway

[Mark Finley]

i have a feeling our computer guy is going to insist on encryption. He's very paranoid about security, and nobody but the pastor knows the wifi password. He is going to install a router in the auditorium for the convention, but dont count on it being open. We can provide the key to those that need it.