Stream service requirements

Streaming requires a reliable internet connection from the studio where audio is captured and sent as a contribution stream to a dedicated endpoint on our platform.

Internet requirements

The internet connection used for sending a contribution stream must:

• Be able to sustain a constant upload speed of at least 25% more than the bitrate of the contribution stream. If you are sending a 64kbps stream, you need at least 80kbps internet connection.
• Support for 25Gb (at 64kbps) of outgoing traffic per month, up to 60Gb (at 128kbps).
• Firewalls must allow a connection to be established to TCP port 8000 on an IP we provide.

Internet recommendations

• We strongly recommend using a dedicated internet connection for streaming. Other devices using the same connection may cause skipping to occur if they saturate the available bandwidth even for short durations.
• The hardware or software sending the stream must be capable of automatically reconnecting after any network disconnect. (Our dedicated hardware does this automatically)

Validate network access

Prior to connecting our streaming device, validate the internet connection by following these steps:

• Connect a normal laptop or desktop machine to the router the device will be connected to.
• Use the same network cable the device will be using to.
• Ensure normal internet browsing works by visiting https://iono.fm/ in a browser.
• Ensure port 8000 is open by visiting http://iono.fm:8000/ in a browser.
• Test how fast your internet connection is. Visit bandwidthplace.com in your browser.
• Click on "Server: Auto Select Server" and change the server to "Europe" / "Frankfurt, DE".
• After running the test the Upload speed must be at least 0.20Mbps and the Ping must be below 200ms.

Input endpoints and format

Customers must send their contribution stream as:

• Icecast 2 on port 8000

At the start of your trial we will provide unique connection settings for sending your stream:

• the IP address to send to
• a mount point name
• a username and password

Sample rate
We recommend incoming streams to use a 44.1kHz sample rate.

Audio Codec
We recommend using AAC or Ogg Vorbis as the input format.

When using MP3 we recommend always using a bitrate of 192k or 256k.

We do accept Opus, but this format will not accept Now Playing metadata via the normal Icecast method. Customers can still use our custom Now Playing setup.

Bitrate
Any bitrate is acceptable as long as it can be pushed reliably with your available upstream bandwidth. We recommend:

• For streams on our "Community" package, a bitrate of at least 128k, depending on codec.
• For streams on our "Commercial" package, a bitrate of at least 160k, depending on codec.

Secondary input

When selecting input formats, please note the requirements for using our secondary input.

What software can i use to publish my stream ?

Free and commercial software are widely available that can send compatible Icecast audio streams into our platform.

Some examples:

• BUTT, free cross-platform tool:
• Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack. Commercial, Mac only.
• iziCast, Commercial, iOS app.
• See also the full list of Icecast source clients.