HELP CENTRE

Getting started with Bitratecheck

Last updated: September 18, 2026

Bitratecheck is a free diagnostic tool. It takes your upload speed and stream settings and answers one question: will your connection hold? Nothing else — no monitoring, no dashboard during a live event, no CDN switching.

START HERE

How to run your first check

Sign in — Click "Check your stream" on the home page. You will be redirected to the shared authentication host (auth.agen2ic.ai). Sign in with any email address. Bitratecheck only stores your email and check records.
Enter your upload speed — Run a speed test from the machine you intend to stream from. Enter the result in Mbps. If you use a wired connection, run the test wired.
Enter your stream settings — Bitrate (Kbps), resolution, framerate, and codec. These are the values you set in OBS, Streamlabs, or your encoder of choice.
Click "Check headroom" — The result appears immediately. The tool does not keep your stream running — it is a static calculation, not a live test.
Review your history — Every check is saved to your account. The Dashboard shows past results. You can export checks as CSV from the Dashboard.

The entire product is built for one person working alone. There is no team, no sharing, no collaboration — results are visible only to you.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Top questions from streamers

What does each verdict actually mean for my stream?

SAFE — Headroom is 20 % or more. Your connection can handle your stream bitrate plus the RTMP protocol overhead with room to spare. The stream should hold during normal conditions, including peak motion scenes.

AT RISK — Headroom is between 0 % and 20 %. Your connection is close to its limit. The stream may tear, stutter, or drop frames during fast motion or scene changes. Consider lowering your bitrate or resolution before going live.

WILL BREAK — Headroom is below 0 %. Your upload speed cannot sustain the bitrate you have configured. The stream will drop frames repeatedly and likely disconnect. Lower your resolution or bitrate, or raise your upload speed (upgrade your connection or reduce other network usage).

My check says "Will break" — what should I change first?

The most impactful change is lowering the stream bitrate, because bitrate is the direct comparison against your effective throughput. Try dropping from 4500 Kbps to 3500 Kbps or 3000 Kbps, then re-check. If your headroom is still negative, lower your resolution (e.g. 1080p → 720p). Resolution has a smaller effect on bandwidth than bitrate, but at extreme values (4K at 60 fps) the encoder itself may be the bottleneck regardless of your upload speed. The tool notes this if it detects a codec/resolution combination that may exceed encoder capability.

Why does the tool deduct 15 % from my upload speed?

Real-time streaming uses the RTMP protocol, which wraps your video data in control packets — handshakes, acknowledgements, timing messages. This overhead means your network connection's raw speed is never fully available for video data. The 15 % deduction is a standard estimate: an effective throughput of 85 % of your measured upload speed. It is the same rule of thumb used by streaming engineers and encoder documentation. The exact overhead varies slightly by encoder and network conditions, but 15 % is a reliable working figure.

Does a "Safe" verdict guarantee my stream will be flawless?

No. Bitratecheck measures one thing: the ratio between your upload speed and stream bitrate, accounting for protocol overhead. It cannot predict:

• Network instability — a flaky connection can drop packets even if the speed test looks fine.
• Encoder performance — encoding 4K 60 fps on an underpowered GPU will drop frames regardless of bandwidth.
• Streaming platform issues — Twitch, YouTube, or your CDN ingest may have server-side problems.
• Latency or jitter — the tool does not measure real-time delivery consistency.

Think of a "Safe" verdict as a green light for the bandwidth check, not a guarantee of a perfect broadcast.

How do I delete my account or data?

Contact us via email (see the section below). We will delete your account and all associated check records. There is no self-service data deletion feature in the product yet. Session tokens expire automatically after 30 days of inactivity. Check records are retained while your account exists.

The Dashboard shows an error loading my history — what's happening?

The history is loaded by calling GET /api/checks. If this fails, it is usually a network issue or a temporary problem with the Cloudflare Workers deployment. Try refreshing the page. If the error persists, contact support with the exact error message shown. Note that the dashboard is a single-request synchronous page — there is no automatic retry or background refresh.

KNOWN LIMITATIONS

What this tool does not do (and why that matters)

Bitratecheck is a pre-flight static check. It measures nothing during an actual broadcast. The following are honest product limitations, not planned features — they do not exist and should not be assumed:

NO REAL-TIME MONITORING — The tool does not watch your stream during a live event, detect frame drops mid-broadcast, or alert you to a degrading connection. It takes one snapshot at the moment you click "Check".
NO CDN SWITCHING OR ROUTING — This is not an enterprise multi-CDN balancer. It does not route traffic, switch providers, or optimise delivery. It only tells you whether your upload speed supports your current settings.
NO TEAM FEATURES — The product has no team invites, shared dashboards, role-based access, or collaboration. It is designed for one signed-in person working alone.
NO SHARING OR NOTIFICATIONS — The fleet has no email sender. There are no share links, no "email results", no automatic alerts or scheduled re-checks. Results live only in your own history on the Dashboard.
NO ENCODING ADVICE — The tool tells you what breaks. It does not suggest an alternative encoding ladder, recommend encoder settings, or auto-adjust your OBS configuration.
NO API OR INTEGRATIONS — There is no public API for external tools, no webhook support, and no integration with OBS, Streamlabs, Restream, or any other software.
NO LATENCY OR JITTER ANALYSIS — The tool does not measure ping, jitter, packet loss, or any real-time network quality metric. It works from a single upload-speed number.
AUTHENTICATION DEPENDENCY — Sign-in requires the shared authentication host (auth.agen2ic.ai). If that service is unavailable, you cannot sign in or run checks. Bitratecheck does not have its own login system.

What a "Safe" verdict is not. A green result means the bandwidth check passed. It does not mean your stream will be flawless — see the FAQ above. Use the verdict as one data point in your pre-flight routine, not a guarantee.

How to reach a human

If your question is not answered here, or you need help with your data, send a message to the support address below. We read every message and respond in order received.

bitratecheck@agen2ic.ai

Please include Bitratecheck in the subject line so we can route your message quickly. We do not have a phone number, live chat, or social media support channel.

Before you write to us, please:

Check the FAQ above — your question may already be answered.
Review the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for data-handling and liability information.
Be aware that Bitratecheck is a free product with no service-level agreement. We aim to respond within a few business days, but there is no guaranteed response time.