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Optimize Low Bandwidth Mode

Learn how to reduce network utilization for your Verkada cameras

Verkada’s camera architecture delivers an optimal user experience with minimal bandwidth usage, typically consuming just 20–50 Kbps per camera, depending on the camera model and features enabled.

For bandwidth-constrained environments like remote sites or high-density deployments, Low Bandwidth Mode reduces resting bandwidth by up to 75% and streaming bandwidth by up to 33%, with a slight trade-off in video quality and scrubbing performance. This ensures seamless security operations without downtime or disruption to critical workloads.

Enable low bandwidth mode

You must be an Org Admin or Site Admin to manage low bandwidth mode.

Single camera

1

In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Cameras.

2

Select a camera you want to edit.

3

To the right of the camera feed, click Settings.

4

Under Device, toggle on Low Bandwidth Mode.

Multiple cameras

1

In Verkada Command, go to All Products > Devices.

2

Select all cameras that need this feature.

3

At the top right, click Edit Settings.

4

Under Device, 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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.

  • 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.

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

Need more help? Contact Verkada Support.

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