Media streaming techniques and systems

Methods and arrangements are provided that integrate media streaming and Quality of Service (QoS) supportive protocols, such as, e.g., Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) and Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), respectively, in a manner that significantly reduces a session's startup latency as well as providing a higher quality of service that is experienced by an end user. The methods and arrangements selectively initiate the streaming of the media data as soon as possible, perhaps at an initially lower QoS, while simultaneously setting up a more desirable or applicable guaranteed QoS path. The methods and arrangements can be implemented in an intelligent manner to dynamically and/or selectively modify the streaming media in response to various network congestion problems, etc. A different/dynamic QoS capability may be setup during an existing streaming operation, and the streaming operation modified accordingly once the new QoS set-up has been completed. The methods and arrangements can provide such capabilities without significantly disturbing the user's experience.