Bandwidth Requirements for Common Business Applications

Planning network capacity requires knowing how much bandwidth your applications actually use. Here's a practical reference based on real-world measurements, not marketing materials.

Bandwidth Calculator Calculate total bandwidth needs for your organization

Video Conferencing

Video calls are often the most demanding application for bandwidth symmetry—they need similar upload and download speeds.

Application	Audio Only	SD Video	HD Video	1080p
Zoom	60-80 Kbps	600 Kbps	1.2 Mbps	3.8 Mbps
Teams	30-60 Kbps	500 Kbps	1.2 Mbps	2.5 Mbps
Google Meet	30-50 Kbps	1 Mbps	2.6 Mbps	3.2 Mbps
WebEx	64 Kbps	500 Kbps	2.5 Mbps	3 Mbps

Note: These are per-participant numbers. Group calls multiply based on gallery view participants.

Voice over IP (VoIP)

VoIP bandwidth depends on the codec used:

Codec	Bandwidth per Call	Quality
G.711	87 Kbps	Excellent (PSTN quality)
G.729	31 Kbps	Good
G.722	87 Kbps	Excellent (HD voice)
Opus	32-128 Kbps	Variable, excellent

These numbers include packet overhead. For capacity planning, assume G.711 (87 Kbps per call) as a conservative baseline.

Cloud Applications

SaaS applications vary widely, but here are typical ranges:

Application Type	Typical Usage	Peak Usage
Email (Exchange/Gmail)	50-100 Kbps	1-5 Mbps (attachments)
CRM (Salesforce)	100-500 Kbps	2 Mbps
ERP Systems	200-500 Kbps	2-5 Mbps
Project Management	100-300 Kbps	1 Mbps
Document Collaboration	100 Kbps	5-10 Mbps (uploads)

File Sync and Backup

Cloud storage services can consume significant bandwidth during sync:

Service	Idle	Active Sync	Initial Sync
OneDrive	~0	1-10 Mbps	Unlimited
Dropbox	~0	1-10 Mbps	Unlimited
Google Drive	~0	1-10 Mbps	Unlimited
Backup Software	~0	5-50 Mbps	Unlimited

Tip: Most sync clients can be throttled. Set bandwidth limits during business hours to prevent backup jobs from impacting users.

Web Browsing

Modern websites are heavier than ever:

• Average page load: 2-3 MB
• News sites: 3-8 MB
• Web applications: 1-5 MB initial, then 100-500 Kbps
• E-commerce: 3-10 MB per page

For planning, assume 1-2 Mbps per active web browser user, with peaks to 10 Mbps during page loads.

Streaming Media

If you allow streaming (training videos, webinars, background music):

Quality	Video Streaming	Music Streaming
Low	0.5-1 Mbps	96 Kbps
Standard	3-5 Mbps	160 Kbps
HD	5-8 Mbps	320 Kbps
4K	15-25 Mbps	N/A

Remote Desktop and VDI

Virtual desktop bandwidth varies with display resolution and activity:

Scenario	Bandwidth
Task worker (Office apps)	150-500 Kbps
Knowledge worker	500 Kbps - 2 Mbps
Multi-monitor	2-5 Mbps
Video playback in session	5-15 Mbps
CAD/Graphics	10-50 Mbps

Software Updates

Don't forget OS and application updates:

• Windows Updates: 100 MB - 4 GB per update
• macOS Updates: 1-12 GB
• Office Updates: 100-500 MB monthly
• Browser Updates: 50-100 MB
• Application Updates: Varies widely

Tip: Use WSUS, SCCM, or similar tools to cache updates locally and avoid 50 machines downloading the same 4GB update.

Per-User Planning Guidelines

Based on aggregated usage patterns:

User Type	Average	Peak	Concurrent %
Light (email, web)	500 Kbps	5 Mbps	20%
Standard (office apps)	2 Mbps	10 Mbps	30%
Heavy (video, dev)	5 Mbps	25 Mbps	40%
Power (media, transfers)	10 Mbps	100 Mbps	50%

Calculating Total Bandwidth

Use this formula for a rough estimate:

Total = Σ (Users × Average × Concurrent%)

For example, an office with 30 standard users and 10 heavy users:

• Standard: 30 × 2 Mbps × 0.30 = 18 Mbps
• Heavy: 10 × 5 Mbps × 0.40 = 20 Mbps
• Total average: 38 Mbps

Add 50% headroom for peaks: 57 Mbps recommended minimum, so a 100 Mbps connection would be appropriate.