> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nomn.jp/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Network

> Bandwidth for FLAC and LOW BANDWIDTH streams, and connection recommendations

# Network

A NOMN REMOTE stream needs the same bandwidth at both ends: your upload carries one copy of the stream (in Direct and in Relay alike, however many listeners a relayed link has), and each listener downloads one copy.

## How much bandwidth

For lossless FLAC, plan on 1 Mbps per channel at both ends: 2 Mbps for stereo, 12 Mbps for 7.1.4, and 16 Mbps for 9.1.6 or third-order ambisonics.[^1]

For LOW BANDWIDTH (Opus), the stream runs at 64 kbit/s per channel, which the plugin's header shows as a total before START.[^2]

| Layout | Channels | FLAC, plan for | LOW BANDWIDTH |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2.0 | 2 | 2 Mbps | 0.13 Mbps |
| 5.1 | 6 | 6 Mbps | 0.38 Mbps |
| 7.1 | 8 | 8 Mbps | 0.51 Mbps |
| 7.1.4 | 12 | 12 Mbps | 0.77 Mbps |
| 9.1.6, 3OA | 16 | 16 Mbps | 1.02 Mbps |

A plugin in [RECEIVE](/remote/receiving/receive) downloads one copy of the session it receives, as a listener does. The [mixing page](/remote/receiving/mixing-page) downloads one copy of each input and uploads the mix as Opus at 64 kbit/s a channel (0.13 Mbps for a stereo mix, 0.77 Mbps for 7.1.4).

Leave headroom above these figures for anything else using the same connection (a video call alongside a review, for example).

## Connection

Use wired Ethernet at both ends for critical applications. Wi-Fi and mobile connections deliver packets in bursts and with gaps, and the listener's buffer absorbs that variation at the cost of delay. Results vary with network conditions at both ends.

A listener on an unsteady connection can raise the page's buffer floor with `buffer 500` (or up to `buffer 2000`), trading latency for fewer interruptions. The default floor is 300 ms.

## Direct connections and firewalls

Direct streams travel peer to peer. When a network between the two ends blocks peer-to-peer traffic, the listener's page waits 8 seconds for a direct connection and then asks for the relay, and the plugin switches that START to the relay (see [Direct and Relay](/remote/streaming/direct-and-relay)). A listener who always ends up on the relay is behind such a network; for Direct to work, that network has to allow peer-to-peer connections from the browser.

[^1]: FLAC is variable rate. On music at 24 bit we measured about 0.81 Mbps a channel; quiet room recordings run higher, and click tracks, tones and silence run far lower. The 1 Mbps figure covers the music case with some margin.

[^2]: Opus runs at a fixed rate. On music we measured about 66 kbit/s a channel.


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