What bonding is
Without bonding, your encoder sends the stream over one internet connection. When that connection slows down or drops — a tunnel, a crowded cell, a weak Wi-Fi — the stream stutters or ends.
With bonding, the encoder splits the stream into small packets and sends them over all available connections at once. A bonding server on the other side — for QikStream that is the relay — collects the packets from every link and puts them back in order before handing the stream to OBS.
How it works, step by step
- 1
The encoder measures every link
It keeps checking how much each connection can carry right now.
- 2
Packets are spread across the links
Faster links get more of the stream, slower ones less. If one link degrades, its share moves to the others.
- 3
The relay buffers and reorders
Packets arrive over different paths at slightly different times. The relay holds a short buffer and puts them back in sequence.
- 4
Missing packets are sent again
If a packet is lost, it is requested again while it can still arrive in time — that is what the latency setting is for.
- 5
OBS receives one clean stream
OBS sees a single SRT source and never knows how many connections were behind it.
One connection vs. bonding
| Single connection | Bonding | |
|---|---|---|
| Connection drops | The stream drops | Other links carry the stream |
| Available bandwidth | One link | Sum of all working links |
| Typical setup | Phone on mobile data | Phone with Wi-Fi + mobile data, or an encoder with several modems |
| Latency | Lower | A little higher — the relay waits for slower links |
What you need
An encoder that supports bonding
QikStream Mobile, Belabox, IRLbox or another app or device that supports bonded SRT (also called SRTLA).
Two or more connections
Wi-Fi plus mobile data on a phone, or several USB modems and SIM cards on a hardware encoder.
A bonding server
The other end that recombines the links — QikStream Relay does this and passes the result to OBS.
OBS
Receives the finished stream over SRT, where you add scenes and go live as usual.
Tips for a more reliable stream
Use different carriers
Two SIMs from the same network fail in the same places. SIMs from different carriers cover each other's gaps.
Set a sensible bitrate
Leave headroom below what your links can carry together. A slightly lower bitrate that never stalls looks better than a high one that does.
Choose latency deliberately
A longer buffer survives worse conditions; a shorter one keeps the delay to chat low.
Prepare a BRB scene
If every link fails at once, the QikStream OBS dock can switch to a BRB scene automatically, so viewers never see a frozen picture.
What bonding cannot do
Bonding uses the capacity you have — it cannot create signal where there is none. In a dead zone where every connection fails, the stream still drops. It makes a drop much less likely, not impossible.