BELABOX
build and setup.

What is BELABOX? Free software for bonded IRL streams

BELABOX calls itself a software package that turns supported boards into "a premium video encoder for outdoor IRL streaming using 3G/4G/5G mobile connections": efficient H.265 encoding, bonding of several modems and networks, dynamic bitrate for weak signal, and remote control through BELABOX Cloud. The code is open source on GitHub (GPL-3.0 and AGPL-3.0), written by the streamer Rational IRL and funded by donations.

How the pieces connect. Your camera feeds the board by HDMI, USB or RTMP from a phone. BELABOX encodes it and sends it over all your connections at once with SRTLA, a protocol from the same project that balances traffic across links by capacity. A relay server joins it back up and passes a normal SRT stream to OBS, at home or in the cloud, which sends it to Twitch, Kick or YouTube. Our IRL streaming setup guide compares this with phone and backpack setups.

Is there a BELABOX app for Android or iPhone? No. We found no official app in Google Play or the App Store on 22 October 2026. The web interface is made for phones: open belabox.local in your phone's browser on the same network, or use a BELABOX Cloud remote from anywhere.

BELABOX price and BELABOX for sale: the cheapest bonded option

The software is free from belabox.net. BELABOX asks for donations on GitHub, and recurring sponsors get BELABOX Cloud.

BELABOX for sale. The only official hardware is the BELABOX BEE from the BELABOX shop, £450: built in 1080p60 HDMI capture and WiFi, 4 high power USB ports for modems, a CNC machined case with a fan and 6 months of BELABOX Cloud. On 22 October 2026 it was sold out, a limited run, and the shop is unsure if more will be made.

The DIY cost. The parts list comes to $134.99 up front (arithmetic), plus $10 a month, your camera and data, with phones you own as modems. BELABOX's board table no longer shows prices, and stock was thin: of the ROCK 5B+ and 5T listings we checked at Radxa's linked stores, only the 8 GB ROCK 5T at Allnet China ($259.99) was in stock.

Why it is the cheapest way to bond. No license, no encoder subscription, parts you may own. The cost is your time: flashing, wiring modems and power, troubleshooting. The web interface covers daily use, but advanced wiki pages, such as SSH setup, use Linux commands.

BELABOX alternatives. Free phone apps bond too: Moblin (iPhone) and IRL Pro (Android) both stream over SRTLA; see our best IRL streaming apps guide. For a ready made bonded unit with support, look at the LiveU Solo and TVU One.

What hardware does BELABOX run on? Boards, cameras and cases

BELABOX's own board comparison, checked 22 October 2026:

• Radxa ROCK 5B+: "best choice for HDMI input setups", recommended for new setups, with an M.2 modem slot (42 mm modules) and the HDMI input BELABOX finds most resistant to modem interference.
• Radxa ROCK 5T: an alternative to the 5B+.
• Orange Pi 5 Plus: supported, but the 5B+ or 5T is preferred.
• Radxa ROCK 5A: no HDMI input, so RTMP or USB webcam only.
• Radxa ROCK 5B and Banana Pi BPI-W3: supported, not recommended.
• NVIDIA Jetson Nano (2 GB, 4 GB, eMMC module): the original platform, still maintained, but it needs a USB capture card (the community wiki names the Elgato Cam Link 4K) and tops out at 4K30, against 4K60 on RK3588 boards.

BELABOX camera. Any camera with clean HDMI output, a USB webcam, or RTMP from a phone.

Multiple cameras. Not supported: BELABOX's wiki calls multiple capture sources "out of scope". The workaround is a hardware switcher in front of the board, like the j5create JVA06 a community member lists, which takes 2 HDMI inputs.

BELABOX case. BELABOX sells no case for DIY boards. Radxa lists a metal case for the ROCK 5B+, and the BELABOX shop's camera case for the Sony FDR-X3000 and HDR-AS300 (£40 to £55) was sold out. BELABOX warns that a modem next to the board or HDMI cable can make HDMI capture fail.

How many modems can BELABOX bond? As many as you can power

BELABOX publishes no fixed number for DIY builds. The limit is USB power, and modems draw a lot: on the ROCK 5B+, BELABOX lists 3.0 A for the USB-C port, 1.45 A shared by the two USB 2.0 ports and the top USB 3.0 port, and 1.0 A for the bottom USB 3.0 port. Past that you need a powered USB hub. The BEE takes 4 USB modems, WiFi and Ethernet out of the box.

Which modems work. BELABOX's wiki says any Linux supported USB modem that creates a virtual Ethernet interface, with the Huawei E5576 and E3372 known to work. With several, each needs its own IP range, which some Huawei firmware blocks. Phones work over USB tethering, and hotspots over USB or Ethernet.

Data use. Arithmetic: at 6 Mbps, one hour uses about 2.7 GB in total (6 × 3,600 ÷ 8 ÷ 1,000), split across your SIMs by how much each link carries. Check each plan's hotspot rules first.

BELABOX Cloud and BELABOX server: free or paid?

Paid, as a perk for GitHub sponsors:

• $5 a month: a cloud remote, to control your encoder from any phone or computer.
• $10 a month: 1 remote plus 1 SRT and SRTLA relay account, for a BELABOX or a phone app.
• $20 a month: 2 remotes and 2 relays.
• $40 a month: same perks, a "price match" tier for people who left a pricier service.

Relays run in the USA, EU, UK, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil and South Africa. You log in at cloud.belabox.net with a GitHub account. Without a sponsorship, the BELABOX shop sells vouchers from £4.50 to £200 by tier and length, processed by hand within 48 hours, not refundable once issued. Is BELABOX Cloud free? Only the 6 months that came with a BEE.

BELABOX Cloud status. We found no public status page; ask on the BELABOX Discord, linked from belabox.net.

Your own BELABOX server. BELABOX advises against it: its receiver, srtla_rec, is "unsupported, no longer under development and not suitable for production deployment". Other relays accept SRTLA (IRLHosting sells them at $9.99 a month), and IRLToolkit's cloud OBS takes SRTLA directly: see our IRLToolkit guide.

BELABOX setup step by step

1. Flash the image. Download your board's image from belabox.net and write it to a UHS Class 3 or V30 microSD card with balenaEtcher. For eMMC, which BELABOX recommends for reliability, flash the installer instead: the board boots from the card, installs BELABOX to the eMMC and shuts down.
2. First boot on Ethernet. Plug the board into your router, open belabox.local in a browser and set a password.
3. Connect the camera to the HDMI input, or send RTMP from a phone.
4. Add modems by USB, each on its own IP range.
5. Point it at a relay: BELABOX Cloud or another SRTLA relay.
6. Set up the other end. Pull the relay's SRT stream into OBS (no extra software needed, BELABOX says), build a BRB scene and connect OBS to your platform, as in our OBS setup guide. The free tool NOALBS can switch to BRB when the feed drops.
7. Go live from the web interface. Settings save only when you start a stream, and BELABOX never goes live by itself at boot.

BELABOX backpack and safety. Use a bag that lets heat out (the wiki notes several modems overheat), modems away from the board. Twitch's community guidelines prohibit "activity that may endanger your life". Follow local law and venue rules when you film people.

Where ReelShift fits after the build

BELABOX gets the stream out; ReelShift turns it into clips while you are still live. It watches your public stream on Twitch, Kick, YouTube or TikTok LIVE, so it needs nothing in your backpack. It follows what you say (stories, jokes, hot takes, big reactions) and loud moments, so it works with no game on screen, and saying "clip that" saves the last 60 seconds, hands free. Vertical clips with word synced captions reach your library within minutes. Creator is $24.99 a month for 1 channel, with a 7 day free trial (1 channel, 5 streaming hours, card required, nothing charged today). See ReelShift for IRL streamers and pricing.