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Real-Time Streaming Systems (WebRTC + Live Data) · Lesson

Reliable vs Unreliable Data Channels

Learn how to configure RTCDataChannel reliability and ordering, when to choose unreliable mode for games, and how to handle backpressure and binary data safely.

Channels Are Configurable

You can already send and receive data over an RTCDataChannel. Now you will tune its behavior. Unlike a fixed protocol, data channels let you choose between reliable and unreliable delivery, just like TCP versus UDP.

Reliable Ordered Default

By default a data channel is reliable and ordered: every message arrives, in the sequence it was sent. This is perfect for chat or file transfer where correctness matters most.

const chat = pc.createDataChannel('chat');
// reliable + ordered by default

All lessons in this course

  1. Introduction to RTCDataChannel
  2. Sending and Receiving Data
  3. Practical Data Channel Use Cases
  4. Reliable vs Unreliable Data Channels
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