What’s the ideal internet bandwidth for remote working?

Posted on Monday November 14, 2022

As remote work becomes more popular, internet bandwidth becomes increasingly important to an employee's productivity. If you're finding it difficult to be as productive at home as you are in the office despite having a strong and stable internet connection, it might be because you don't have enough bandwidth. Here's how much you need for different types of tasks.

What is internet bandwidth?

Bandwidth is how much data your internet connection can transfer in a second. A higher bandwidth allows more data to be transferred at once. Most internet providers have different bandwidth limits for downloads and uploads.

Data transfer speed is calculated in megabytes per second (Mbps) or bytes per second (Bps), which indicates the maximum amount of data that can be sent through your home internet connection.

How much internet bandwidth is needed for remote work?

Several factors affect how much internet bandwidth you need to work remotely, like the type of job you have and which apps/programs you use.

Simple tasks such as checking your email, chatting online, or creating documents don't use too much bandwidth. However, if your tasks require more complex processes, like video calling, then you'll need higher bandwidth to complete them.

Below is a list of commonly used apps by remote workers, and the bandwidth required to use them effectively.

Google Meet Google Meet needs access to enough concurrent bandwidth for HD meetings, as well as supplemental bandwidth in order to support other needs, such as live streaming. If there isn't enough bandwidth for a video conference, the app will automatically switch to audio-only mode.

Below are the minimum bandwidth requirements for Google Meet.

• Average bandwidth requirement per participant

  Type of meeting	Inbound	Outbound
  HD video conference	1.6 Mbps	2.2 Mbps
  Audio-only mode	18 Kbps	12 Kbps

• Average bandwidth requirements per live stream viewer

  Video setting	Required inbound bandwidth
  720p	2.6 Mbps
  480p	1.5 Mbps
  360p	1.0 Mbps
  240p	0.5 Mbps

Zoom Zoom will adjust its bandwidth usage for the best experience possible based on the participant's network, whether it be 3G, Wi-Fi, or wired. Here are the bandwidth requirements for different types of Zoom meetings.

• 1-on-1 video call

  Video setting	Required bandwidth
  High-quality video	600 Kbps (up/down)
  720p HD video	1.2 Mbps (up/down)
  1080p HD video	3.8 Mbps/3.0 Mbps (up/down)

• Group video call

  Video setting	Required bandwidth
  High-quality video	1.0M Bps/600 Kbps (up/down)
  720p HD video	2.6 Mbps/1.8 Mbps (up/down)
  1080p HD video	3.8 Mbps/3.0 Mbps (up/down)
  Gallery view receiving	2.0 Mbps (25 views), 4.0 Mbps (49 views)

• Webinar participants

  Video setting	Required bandwidth
  High-quality video	600 Kbps (down)
  720p HD video	1.2‒1.8 Mbps (down)
  1080p HD video	2–3 Mbps (down)

Microsoft Teams No matter the condition of your internet connection, Teams guarantees the best audio, video, and content sharing experience. If you have insufficient bandwidth, Teams will prioritize audio quality over video quality.

This table details how much bandwidth Teams uses.

• Bandwidth Requirement for Audio Only

  Type of meeting	Minimum	Recommended	Optimum
  One-on-one	10 Kbps/10 Kbps (up/down)	58 Kbps/58 Kbps (up/down)	76 Kbps/76 Kbps (up/down)
  Group	1.2‒1.8 Mbps (down)	58kbps/58kbps (up/down)	76 Kbps/76 Kbps (up/down)

• Bandwidth Requirement for Video

  Type of meeting	Minimum	Recommended	Optimum
  One-on-one	150 Kbps/150 Kbps (up/down)	1.5 Mbps/1.5 Mbps (up/down)	4.0 Mbps/4.0 Mbps (up/down)
  Group	150 Kbps/200 Kbps (up/down)	2.5 Mbps/4.0 Mbps (up/down)	4.0 Mbps/4.0 Mbps (up/down)

• Bandwidth Requirement for Screen sharing

  Type of meeting	Minimum	Recommended	Optimum
  One-on-one	200 Kbps/200 Kbps (up/down)	1.5 Mbps/1.5 Mbps (up/down)	4.0 Mbps/4.0 Mbps (up/down)
  Group	250 Kbps/250 Kbps (up/down)	2.5 Mbps/2.5 Mbps (up/down)	4.0 Mbps/4.0 Mbps (up/down)

• Bandwidth Requirement for Together mode

  Type of meeting	Minimum	Recommended	Optimum
  One-on-one	N/A	N/A	N/A
  Group	1.0 Mbps/1.5 Mbps (up/down)	1.5 Mbps/2.5 Mbps (up/down)	2.5 Mbps/4.0 Mbps (up/down)

For more helpful tips on how you can optimize your remote work setup, call us today.