IRLBox is an encoder operating system rather than a box we ship — it runs on small single-board machines and gives them features that used to need expensive hardware. This guide is about pointing one at a relay you control, so the finished broadcast comes out of your own OBS instead of going straight to a platform.
First, the honest part about bonding
IRLBox's own documentation lists its built-in protocols as SRT, RTMP and RIST. RIST is the one it leans on for bonding across several connections, and its docs make a detailed case for RIST over SRTLA.
We do not offer RIST today. So if you bought an IRLBox specifically for RIST link aggregation, we are not the relay for that part of your setup yet, and we would rather say so here than let you find out after checkout.
What we do serve well is everything else IRLBox does: a single connection over SRT or RTMP, delivered to a relay near you and handed to your own OBS. That is the setup below.
If your build has SRTLA available in Stream settings — some do, as an installed extra rather than a headline feature — then our SRTLA endpoints will take that too, and the Belabox guide covers the shape of it.
Step 1: create the endpoint
In the dashboard, create an SRT relay endpoint in the region nearest to where you will be streaming. You need the hostname, the port and the stream id:
srt://srt.sfj.irl.ac:4001?streamid=live/YOUR-STREAM-KEY
Regions are sfj, fin, ord, hil and sgp.
Prefer RTMP? Create an RTMP endpoint instead and use rtmp://rtmp.sfj.irl.ac:1935/live with the stream key underneath it. Everything after this step is the same.
Step 2: open the IRLBox dashboard
Put the box on a network and open irlbox.local from a browser on that same network. Find Stream settings — the place where you would otherwise put a platform ingest URL.
Step 3: pick the protocol and enter the relay
Select SRT (or RTMP). Then enter:
- Hostname:
srt.sfj.irl.ac, with your region. - Port:
4001for SRT. - Stream id:
live/YOUR-STREAM-KEY.
Some builds take a single combined URL instead of separate fields. If so, paste the full form from step 1.
4001 is SRT, 5000 is SRTLA
If your build does offer SRTLA and you choose it, the port changes to 5000. Pointing one protocol at the other's port fails in an unhelpful way — it looks like a network problem rather than a wrong number. Check the port before you check anything else.
Save the profile, connect your camera, and start the stream.
Step 4: pull it into OBS
Your relay is a bridge, not a broadcaster. The finished show comes out of your OBS, which stays on a stable connection at home.
In OBS, add a Media Source, uncheck Local File, and paste the playback URL from your dashboard. The settings that matter — buffering, and the checkboxes that let a stalled feed recover instead of freezing — are in the OBS setup guide.
Confirm the input before you go live
Check the feed arrives and looks right in OBS on a connection you trust, before you put it in front of an audience on a connection you do not. Most setup problems are obvious at a desk and hard to diagnose on a street.
Travelling with it
There is no region migration to request and no ticket to open. Your endpoint answers in every region we run, so flying to Singapore means changing sfj to sgp in the box's hostname. The stream id stays the same, your OBS keeps the same playback URL, and nothing on our side has to move.
Pair it with drop protection so NOALBS holds a BRB scene during a rough patch rather than letting the broadcast end.
FAQ
- Does IRLBox bond across its modems with SRTLA?
- Not by default. IRLBox's own documentation lists SRT, RTMP and RIST as its built-in protocols, and RIST is what it uses for link aggregation. Some builds can install SRTLA as an extra, so if your Stream settings offer it, our SRTLA endpoints will take it. Do not assume it is there.
- Do you support RIST?
- Not yet. RIST is IRLBox's own answer to bonding and it is genuinely good at it, so if RIST bonding is the reason you bought the box, we are not the right relay for that today. Our SRT and RTMP endpoints work fine for a single connection, and RIST is something we are looking at.
- Which region should I choose?
- The one nearest the box, not the one nearest your OBS machine. The fragile half of the journey is the cellular hop from the box to us; the relay to your OBS runs over ordinary internet and tolerates distance far better.
- Can I change region while travelling?
- Yes, and there is nothing to migrate. Your endpoint answers in every region we run, so you edit the hostname in the box and keep the same stream id.
- What bitrate should I set?
- IRLBox advertises up to 30 Mbps upstream; our endpoints accept up to 20 Mb/s. Either way the number that matters is what your connection sustains while moving, which for most rigs is somewhere between 6 and 12 Mbps.
- How is this different from a Belabox?
- Mostly the bonding. A Belabox speaks SRTLA and hands the reassembly to the relay, which is exactly what our endpoints are built for. IRLBox is a RIST-first encoder OS. For a single connection the two are interchangeable from our side; for bonding they take different routes.