A hardware accelerated streaming arrangement, especially for RTP real time protocol streaming, directs data packets for one or more streams between sources and destinations, using addressing and handling criteria that are determined in part from control packets and are used to alter or supplement headers associated with the stream content packets. A programmed control processor responds to control packets in RTCP or RTSP format, whereby the handling or direction of RTP packets can be changed. The control processor stores data for the new addressing and handling criteria in a memory accessible to a hardware accelerator, arranged to store the criteria for multiple ongoing streams at the same time. When a content packet is received, its addressing and handling criteria are found in the memory and applied, by action of the network accelerator, without the need for computation by the control processor. The network accelerator operates repetitively to continue to apply the criteria to the packets for a given stream as the stream continues, and can operate as a high date rate pipeline. The processor can be programmed to revise the criteria in a versatile manner, including using extensive computation if necessary, because the processor is relieved of repetitive processing duties accomplished by the network accelerator.