Video conferencing is now core to business \xE2\x80\x94 and it's one of the most demanding things on your network, in both directions. Planning for it prevents the frozen-screen meetings everyone dreads.
How Much Video Actually Uses
A single HD video participant uses roughly 1.5\xE2\x80\x933+ Mbps each way; group HD calls and screen sharing push higher. The key insight: video needs upload as much as download, because your cameras are streaming out. Multiply by simultaneous meetings at peak.
Quality Depends on More Than Speed
Even with enough bandwidth, video suffers from latency, jitter, and packet loss \xE2\x80\x94 the causes of freezing and robotic audio. See our glossary. Consistency matters as much as raw capacity.
Plan rule: estimate peak concurrent video users \xC3\x97 ~3 Mbps up and down, add the rest of your traffic, then leave headroom. If upload is the constraint, prioritize symmetrical fiber.
Make Video Reliable
- Enough symmetrical bandwidth for peak concurrent calls \xE2\x80\x94 see sizing bandwidth.
- QoS to prioritize real-time traffic over bulk downloads.
- Wired connections for meeting rooms and heavy users.
- A reliable circuit (and failover) so client calls don't drop.
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