Live streaming a school presentation night or concert: a network checklist

When does the end-of-year event season run?

For NSW public schools, Term 4 2026 runs from Tuesday 13 October to Thursday 17 December for students in both the Eastern and Western divisions, according to the NSW Department of Education calendar. Presentation nights, carols, graduation assemblies and concerts cluster in the last five or six weeks of that term.

That timing creates three practical pressures:

• Halls are booked back to back. Rehearsals, exams and other year groups compete for the same space, so there is often only one chance to test.
• Volunteers and staff are stretched. The person running the stream is often also running the slideshow or sound.
• Grandparents and relatives overseas want to watch. A stream that drops halfway through an award is remembered for the wrong reasons.

If the school needs an extra connection, plan it weeks ahead rather than days. Our guide on when to book event WiFi explains typical lead times.

How much upload does a school stream need?

Streaming is limited by upload, not download. The planning figures used across this site are 10 to 20 Mbps of stable upload per stream, with 1.5 to 2 times headroom for spikes and other traffic.

School WiFi in a hall is usually the wrong place to find this. It is often filtered, shared with staff and student systems, thin in large halls, and then several hundred family phones arrive at once. A stream that worked in an empty rehearsal can stutter when the room fills.

For more detail, read upload speed for live streaming or estimate your own numbers with the bandwidth calculator.

Wired first: getting a connection to the back of the hall

1. Fix the stream desk position early. It is usually at the back or side of the hall with a clear view of the stage. Everything else follows from where it sits.
2. Run a cable to the streaming computer. A wired connection removes the biggest source of drop-outs. If there is no usable data point nearby, a temporary cable run with walkway protection is quick to set up.
3. Ask the school's IT contact first. Schools have their own rules about what can connect to their network. A separate temporary connection avoids touching school systems at all.
4. Use a dedicated connection if the school line is not suitable. Options include a 4G or 5G router with an external antenna placed where signal is strongest, or a temporary internet service where there is enough lead time.
5. Add a backup. A second connection on a different network, with automatic failover, means a single fault does not end the stream.
6. Test at the same time of day. Mobile and shared connections behave differently at 7 pm than at 10 am.

Our live streaming internet service covers this setup from the hall entrance to the stream desk.

Consent, opt-outs and private viewing links

The network is only half the job. NSW Department of Education guidance on photographs and recordings says that, as a general rule, schools should obtain consent before photographing or videoing students. For events the school records, parents and carers should be told in advance and given the opportunity to not have their child included. Publication beyond the school community, such as a broadcast, needs consent for that specific purpose, and where a student has no consent to publish, their identity should be removed, for example by cropping or blurring.

Non-government schools set their own policies, so always follow the school's own process. In practice, the network plan can support whatever the school decides:

• Private links. Share an unlisted or password-protected link with enrolled families instead of a public page.
• Camera framing. A wide stage shot is easier to manage than close-ups of the audience or individual students.
• A holding slide. Have a slide ready to cut to when a student without consent is on stage.
• Recording decisions. Decide before the night whether the stream is recorded, who keeps it and for how long.

The same guidance notes that schools should encourage parents to consult the parents of other students in their footage before posting it on social media.

Payments, raffles and the canteen on the same night

Presentation nights and end-of-year concerts often include a raffle, a barbecue, a bake stall or a P and C table. Card terminals need a connection too, and they should not share a congested guest network with the stream.

• Put payment terminals on their own network, separate from guests and from the stream. See why separate networks matter.
• Check which WiFi bands the terminals support. Many still need 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz coverage at the stall.
• Understand the terminal's offline mode and its limits before relying on it.
• Give the stall a power point and keep cables out of walkways.

Our guide to EFTPOS at events covers terminal set-up in detail, and EFTPOS and payment networks explains how a dedicated payment network is set up.

A run sheet for the night

1. At rehearsal: run a test stream at full quality for at least 30 minutes on the actual connection, with a private test link.
2. Name one person responsible for the stream who is not also running sound or slides.
3. Pack spares: a spare network cable, power board, camera battery and charger.
4. Go live 15 minutes early with a holding slide so families can check the link works.
5. Watch the stream health indicators in the streaming software, especially dropped frames and upload rate.
6. Know the failover: what happens and who acts if the main connection drops.
7. Afterwards: end the stream, and handle any recording as the school has decided.

If you are planning a presentation night, concert or graduation, send the hall layout and the program through our contact page. Our Sydney team will suggest a setup that suits the venue. See also school and university event WiFi.

Sources

1. NSW Department of Education — 2026 school calendar and term dates
2. NSW Department of Education — Photographs and recordings (privacy guidance)

Event dates, prices and product details can change. Check the organiser or manufacturer before you plan around them. Planning figures are starting points; every network is confirmed against the actual site.