How to improve Tinypilot + Tailscale connection quality aka reduce latency?

Hi @FireofCourage, thanks for the great questions on connection quality.

Measuring the performance of a connection is a surprisingly complicated topic. There are different tests for bandwidth (how much data you can transfer at once), latency (how long it takes data to travel), jitter (how much latency varies) and so on. TinyPilot will be affected by all of these so there isn’t really a single test that would cover all aspects. However, you can use online testers, such as fast.com (click “show more details” to see latency as well), to get a reasonable approximation.

You mentioned that you are using a cellular 4G connection. This is likely to be the weakest link as cellular connections can be very variable due to how the shared radio medium is used. Upgrading to a newer phone is unlikely to help if only 4G is available, although if 5G is available then upgrading to a compatible device and plan may result in a faster connection with less latency.

In terms of TinyPilot itself, switching to the more efficient H.264 video format is the most effective way to work with a poor connection. You can also tweak the video quality settings to the minimum you find comfortable - lower settings will require less bandwidth. Outside of TinyPilot, I’ve found that configuring other apps on your phone or laptop to avoid downloading content and updates in the background to ensure TinyPilot has exclusive use of the connection can really help.