Verkada's camera architecture is optimized to provide organizations with the best user experience with minimum bandwidth usage. In normal operation, Verkada cameras consume as low as 20–50 Kbps upload bandwidth, depending on the camera model and features enabled. However, there are cases where Verkada cameras need to be deployed in extremely bandwidth constrained environments, such as remote locations, mobile deployments or sites with high camera densities. For such deployments, we offer low bandwidth mode, which further reduces the resting bandwidth consumed by Verkada cameras by up to 75% and streaming bandwidth by up to 33% with a slight decrease in video quality and video scrubbing experience.

The low bandwidth mode feature enables you to run your day-to-day security operations and incident response use cases without downtime, loss in productivity, or overwhelming, existing mission-critical workloads.

Enable low bandwidth mode

Required. You must be an Org Admin or Site Admin to enable or disable the low bandwidth mode feature. Learn more about Roles and Permissions for Command and Roles and Permissions for Cameras, specifically.

The low bandwidth mode feature is available for all Verkada cameras and you can enable from Verkada Command for a single camera or (in bulk) for multiple cameras at the same time.

Enable for a single camera

In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Cameras.
Select a camera you want to enable.
To the right of the camera feed, click Settings.
On the left, scroll down and select Device.
Toggle on Low Bandwidth Mode.

Enable for multiple cameras

In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Devices.
Select all cameras that need this feature.
At the top right, click Edit Settings.
On the left, scroll down and select Device.
In the General section, toggle on Low Bandwidth Mode.

FAQ

What features contribute to internet bandwidth consumption?

Video streaming

Remote video streaming (live or historical) constitutes the bulk of internet bandwidth consumption, with standard quality (SQ) consuming 300–600 Kbps and high quality (HQ) video consuming 1,500–4,500 Kbps of internet bandwidth, depending on camera model and mode (live video vs historical playback). Learn about adaptive quality recording, where you can see details of bandwidth consumed by different camera models.

Note:

Remote playback of video consumes upload bandwidth on the camera’s network, but consumes download bandwidth on the client’s network.
If the client and camera are on the same network, local video flows directly from the camera to the client and does not consume any internet bandwidth. Learn more about local streaming.
If cloud backup has been enabled, then the video upload to the cloud consumes upload bandwidth on the camera’s network. If the requested video is present in the cloud, the video flows directly from the cloud to the client, so no additional bandwidth is consumed for historical playback.

Resting bandwidth

Verkada cameras upload thumbnails once every 20 seconds. However, if the camera sees any motion in the 20-second interval, the camera uploads an additional thumbnail to capture the motion event. This means that:

During active hours, Verkada cameras send 2 thumbnails every 20 seconds.
In addition to thumbnails, cameras upload camera health metrics, and video metadata throughout the day.
The thumbnails are used to deliver a smooth video scrubbing experience on the single cameras page and history player.
The camera health metrics are used to monitor the health of the camera and ensure it is behaving as expected.
The metadata helps with smooth video streaming and playback experience.

Note:

Thumbnails constitute the majority of upload bandwidth.
People analytics, vehicle analytics, and time lapse features consume additional internet bandwidth.
Timelapse needs high-resolution JPEG images to be periodically sent to the Verkada cloud and consumes additional bandwidth.

Learn more about Bandwidth Consumption and Uplink Requirements for Video.

How does low bandwidth mode reduce the bandwidth consumed?

Video streaming bandwidth

Low bandwidth mode reduces the HQ video bitrates on 4K cameras (CD61, CD61-E, CD62, CD62-E, CB61-E, CB61-TE, CM61) and Fisheye camera (CF81-E) capping it at 2 Mbps. This reduction allows more video streams to play with minimal loss in video quality.

Note: The cloud backup feature cannot be used if the camera is operating in low bandwidth mode.

Learn more about Bandwidth Consumption and Uplink Requirements for Video.

Resting bandwidth

Under low bandwidth mode, non-motion thumbnails are only uploaded once every 5 minutes. Motion thumbnails are still uploaded at most once every 20 seconds if the camera sees motion during the 20-second interval. In addition to thumbnail upload frequency, thumbnail quality and size are also reduced to minimize thumbnail size.

Notes:

The time lapse feature cannot be used if the camera is operating in low bandwidth mode.
When low bandwidth mode is enabled for a camera any older, or cached thumbnails stored on the camera, are deleted and only new thumbnails from that point onwards are uploaded to the cloud.

Related resources

Need more help? Contact Verkada Support