Bandwidth Consumption & Uplink Requirements for Video

Verkada cameras record video locally, limiting consumption bandwidth

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.

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Streaming modes

The Verkada system operates in 3 different streaming modes: no view, live stream, and historical footage.

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

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

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.

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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

Camera models: CD63, CD63-E, CD62, CD62-E, CD61, CD61-E

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 models: D30, D50

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

Camera models: CM22, CM41, CM41-E, CM41-S, CM42

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

Camera models: CF83-E, CF81-E

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

Camera models: CB51-E, CB51-TE, CB52-E, CB52-TE

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 models: CB61-E, CB61-TE, CB62-E, CB62-TE

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.

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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.

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Prefer to see it in action? Check out the video tutorial.

Need more help? Contact Verkada Support.