Recommended Network Switch Settings for NDI

Best practices for 2024

NDI is designed to work within your existing network as seamlessly as possible, but we understand that there are still instances where a network administrator would like to see specific settings to employ to get the best possible video in their network. The following are various settings we recommend as a general rule on a managed network:

1. Network Switch Specifications

   1. Gigabit Ethernet: Ensure all network switch ports support Gigabit Ethernet at least. High Bandwidth NDI can easily use up 250mbps for a single stream at 4K60, and even HX3 can be around 100mbps at the same resolution and framerate

   2. Full Duplex: All ports should be set to full duplex (bi-directional communication).

   3. Backplane Capacity: Ensure the switch backplane supports the full throughput capacity required. Capacity = Number of ports x Speed x 2.

2. Managed Switch Settings

   1. Quality of Service (QoS): Disable QoS to prevent any potential delays.

   2. Jumbo Frames: Disable Jumbo Frames to avoid fragmentation issues.

   3. Flow Control: Enable Flow Control (Asymmetrical or On) for TCP data transfer.

   4. IGMP Snooping: Enable IGMP Snooping if using multicast.

   5. IGMP Querier: Configure IGMP Querier and Query Interval for each switch in multi-switch networks when using multicast.

3. Firewalls & Ports

   1. mDNS/Bonjour: Ensure mDNS/Bonjour is accessible for automatic discovery of NDI devices.

   2. NDI Messaging Server: Manual discovery requires access to port 5960 for the NDI messaging server, and subsequent ports starting at 5961 for NDI video streams.

4. Cabling

   1. Cabling Grade: Use a minimum of CAT5e cabling grade for GigE performance.

   2. Cabling Length: Ensure proper cabling length requirements are met. Network cable can run up to about 100m before the signal starts to degrade simply due to the physics involved.

5. DHCP Configuration

   1. DHCP: Enable DHCP to simplify setup and network configuration.

   2. Power over Ethernet (PoE): Ensure the switch supports PoE if required by devices. Typically, smaller converter boxes will use POE, or about 15w of power, whereas a camera can use POE+ (~ 25-30w) or even POE++ (up to 100w). A switch may state it’s POE-capable, but only deliver a a certain amount of total power wattage that’s shared across all of the ports.

6. Additional Tips

   1. Network Latency: Minimize network latency by optimizing the network layout. Additional ‘hops’ can add a non-zero amount of delay

   2. Bandwidth Requirements: Ensure sufficient bandwidth for NDI video streams. When using unicast/TCP, the NDI stream is multiplied by the number of concurrent receivers (e.g., if a single camera NDI HX stream is 100mbps, but is being requested by 3 instances of Studio Monitor, then that’s 300mbps total)

   3. There are some known network protocols and applications that directly interfere with NDI- the most notable one being Audinate’s popular AVoIP protocol Dante. When Dante and NDI are used on the same network, it’s generally recommended that they both operate on their own VLAN

7. WIFI Considerations

   1. While NDI works as a general idea across a network and makes no bearing on the type of network it’s used on, the nature of wifi can impact video performance. While not always recommended, if a device will be on wifi, you’ll want to consider at least a WIFI6 or WIFI7 capable device and infrastructure to get the best possible result with higher bitrates and resolutions. Follow the typical best practices for radio interference.

These settings will help optimize your network switch for NDI, ensuring smooth and reliable video transport. Always test performance with a network analyzer before and after making any changes to ensure the best results. Using a network analyzer to test NDI settings can help you optimize your network performance. We offer a tool called NDI Analysis which is free to download and use and we have a separate page for it on our docs and guides. When using NDI Analysis, the key metric to look for is consistency across the SEND, RECV and MIN/MAX results. If there’s video but those numbers vary greatly, there’s most likely some network delay occurring that could impact performance at some point.