When accessed remotely, a video proxies through the cloud and is cached to speed retrieval times and playback. This approach enables large numbers of simultaneous viewers without negatively impacting the bandwidth of your local area network (LAN).
Below is a breakdown of the expected streaming bandwidth consumption based on the Verkada camera model and streaming mode upload.
Local streaming is prioritized if a local connection can be established to reduce bandwidth consumption.
Streaming modes
The Verkada system operates in 3 different streaming modes: no view, live stream, and historical footage.
No view
No view
Cameras at rest (not being viewed) operate at a steady upload state of 20–50 Kbps. In this mode, cameras only send metadata and thumbnails to the cloud, conserving bandwidth for other business applications.
Live stream
Live stream
When a camera's live stream is viewed, the camera switches to a higher uplink consumption pattern.
SQ stream: Standard quality (SQ) 800x600 stream is the default video stream.
HQ stream: High quality (HQ) streams vary by camera model and may be a 2MP, 3MP, 5MP, or 4K resolution. Note changing HQ bitrate will impact bandwidth utilization.
See Camera Video Resolution for video resolution by camera model.
Local: Local streams can be SQ or HQ. The bandwidth consumption is the same as SQ or HQ stream, but is transferred directly from the camera to the viewing device.
See Local Streaming on Verkada Cameras for more information.
Historical footage
Historical footage
When historical footage is viewed, the bandwidth consumption varies between the SQ and HQ streams, depending on whether motion was detected. Viewing historical footage at increased speeds increases the bandwidth linearly, so a camera that plays HQ video at 1 Mbps at 1x speed requires 2 Mbps at 2x speed and 3 Mbps at 3x speed. Historical footage can be streamed via the cloud or locally.
SQ is used when no motion is detected in the frame and is 300 Kbps or 600 Kbps, depending on the camera model.
HQ is used when motion is detected in the frame and is in a range of 1–3 Mbps, depending on the camera model.
SQ footage at 3x speed uses 900 Kbps–1.8 Mbps, depending on the camera model.
HQ footage at 3x speed uses 3–9 Mbps, depending on the camera model.
See Camera Video Resolution for video resolution by camera model.
Dome series
Camera models: CD53, CD53-E, CD43, CD43-E, CD52, CD52-E, CD52-E-F, CD52-F, CD42, CD42-E, CD42-E-F, CD42-F, CD22, CD22-E, CD32, CD32-E, CD51, CD51-E, CD41, CD41-E, CD31, CD31-E
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view - Low Bandwidth Mode | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 3 Mbps upload |
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 600 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 4.5 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 600 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 4.5 Mbps upload |
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 1 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 1 Mbps upload |
Camera model: D40
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 1.5 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 1.5 Mbps upload |
Mini Dome series
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 3 Mbps upload |
Camera model: CM61
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 600 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 600 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 3 Mbps upload |
Fisheye
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 600 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 4.5 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 600 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 4.5 Mbps upload |
Camera model: D80
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 600 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 2 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 600 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 2 Mbps upload |
Bullet
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 3 Mbps upload |
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 600 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 4.5 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 600 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 4.5 Mbps upload |
Multisensor
Camera model: CY53-E
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view - Low Bandwidth Mode | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 3 Mbps upload |
Camera model: CH52-E
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement |
No view | 80–200 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 300 Kbps upload |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps upload |
Historical footage with no motion | 300 Kbps upload |
Historical footage with motion | 3 Mbps upload |
PTZ
Camera model: CP63-E
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement - Static | Bandwidth Requirement - Moving |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 1 Mbps | 3 Mbps |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps | 5 Mbps |
Historical footage with no motion | 1.2 Mbps | 1.5 Mbps |
Historical footage with motion | 4 Mbps | 4 Mbps |
Camera model: CP52-E
Uplink Content | Bandwidth Requirement - Static | Bandwidth Requirement - Moving |
No view | 20–50 Kbps upload | 20–50 Kbps upload |
SQ (local or cloud) | 1 Mbps | 2 Mbps |
HQ (local or cloud) | 3 Mbps | 4.5 Mbps |
Historical footage with no motion | 600 Kbps | 1.5 Mbps |
Historical footage with motion | 2.5 Mbps | 4 Mbps |
See Variable Bitrates for PTZ Cameras for more information.
Variables that can impact bandwidth consumption
You can estimate bandwidth consumption for your Verkada system with these variables:
Number of cameras viewed per day
Number of SQ hours viewed per day
Number of HQ hours viewed per day
HQ bitrate selected for the camera
Changing a camera's bitrate will impact the consumption and uplink requirements. See Modify High Quality Video Bitrates for more information.
Expected network port speeds
All cameras negotiate at full-duplex. For a list of network interface card (NIC) speeds for each device model, see Network Port Speeds.
Prefer to see it in action? Check out the video tutorial.
Need more help? Contact Verkada Support.