# Live Streaming Buffering Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Wowza Streaming Engine\ **Created:** [April 26, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415 "2011-04-26T13:27:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jieyun\_Fu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@Jieyun\_Fu](https://community.wowza.com/u/Jieyun_Fu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/1 "2011-04-26T13:27:54Z")
Hi, I was trying to use the LiveStreaming application to stream a video via RTMP. But I realize that it takes the player quite a while to buffer before playing it. Is there a way to reduce this buffer time/size in the Wowza settings? Thank you so much. ---
**Author:** ![Randall\_Auriemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Randall\_Auriemma](https://community.wowza.com/u/Randall_Auriemma)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/2 "2011-04-26T09:56:49Z")
It will usually take a few seconds. To reduce the buffer time, you can reduce your bitrate, or increase your bandwidth. How long is it taking? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Lanham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Richard\_Lanham](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Lanham)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/3 "2011-04-27T01:03:56Z")
Take a look at this guide: [https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-set-up-low-latency-applications-in-wowza-streaming-engine-for-rtmp-streaming](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-set-up-low-latency-applications-in-wowza-streaming-engine-for-rtmp-streaming) Richard ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Lanham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Richard\_Lanham](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Lanham)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/4 "2011-04-28T12:20:59Z")
It is normal. For h.264 video, Flash player needs about 60 frames before it starts playing, so if your video is 30 fps that is 2 second start time (plus server and network factors). You can set netstream buffer to 0 to get around this, but this can have bad side affects. Richard ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Lanham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Richard\_Lanham](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Lanham)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/5 "2011-04-28T21:44:03Z")
It’s not terribly abnormal Richard ---
**Author:** ![Jieyun\_Fu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@Jieyun\_Fu](https://community.wowza.com/u/Jieyun_Fu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/6 "2011-04-26T17:22:41Z")
Thanks so much for your reply! It usually takes 3-4 seconds. Is it too much? Other than changing the video, is there anything on the Wowza side I can do? ---
**Author:** ![Jieyun\_Fu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@Jieyun\_Fu](https://community.wowza.com/u/Jieyun_Fu)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/7 "2011-04-28T00:42:56Z")
Hi richard. Thanks for sharing this link. After following it, it still takes 2-3 seconds to load the stream. Is it normal? Thanks again! > Take a look at this guide: > > [Low latency RTMP streaming with Wowza Streaming Engine](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-set-up-low-latency-applications-in-wowza-streaming-engine-for-rtmp-streaming) > > Richard ---
**Author:** ![Jieyun\_Fu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@Jieyun\_Fu](https://community.wowza.com/u/Jieyun_Fu)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/live-streaming-buffering-time/36415/8 "2011-04-28T16:28:52Z")
> It is normal. For h.264 video, Flash player needs about 60 frames before it starts playing, so if your video is 30 fps that is 2 second start time (plus server and network factors). You can set netstream buffer to 0 to get around this, but this can have bad side affects. > > Richard Thanks again for your reply. Should have provided more details… my stream was just a normal flv video, with mpeg encoding. Is it still normal then?