Plan for about 3 to 4 Mbps of upload and download per HD video endpoint, in each direction, at the same time. Zoom recommends 3.0 Mbps up and 2.5 Mbps down for 1080p group video, and Microsoft says a Teams endpoint can use up to 4 Mbps. Upload speed is usually the limit, so check your upload, not just the download speed your ISP advertises.
Bandwidth by platform
Zoom (per participant, from Zoom's published recommendations)
| Use | Recommended |
|---|---|
| 1:1 video, 720p | 1.2 Mbps up/down |
| 1:1 video, 1080p | 1.8 Mbps up/down |
| Group video, 720p / gallery view | 1.5 Mbps up/down |
| Group video, 1080p | 3.0 Mbps up, 2.5 Mbps down |
| Screen sharing with video thumbnail | 50-150 kbps |
| Audio only (VoIP) | 60-80 kbps |
Microsoft Teams (per endpoint, from Microsoft's network guidance)
| Use | Minimum | Recommended | Best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio | 10 kbps | 58 kbps | 76 kbps |
| Video, meetings | 150 / 200 kbps | 2.5 Mbps up / 4 Mbps down | 4 Mbps |
| Screen sharing, meetings | 250 kbps | 2.5 Mbps | 4 Mbps |
Microsoft's "recommended" level supports video up to 1080p. Google Meet's requirements are in the same range; check Google's support pages for current figures.
These numbers change as platforms update codecs, so treat them as planning figures and check the vendor docs: Teams Rooms network requirements and Zoom Rooms requirements.
How much does a conference room need?
A meeting room counts as one endpoint, no matter how many people sit in it. Budget for the busiest case:
| Scenario | Plan for (each direction) |
|---|---|
| One room system in a 1080p call | About 4 Mbps |
| Room system sharing content + video | About 4-6 Mbps |
| Dual-display or multi-camera room | Add headroom; follow the platform's guidance |
| 5 rooms in calls at once | About 20-30 Mbps |
| 20 laptops on video calls at once | About 60-80 Mbps |
Add headroom for everything else on the network: file sync, backups, streaming and guest Wi-Fi. A common rule is to keep real-time traffic under about half of your link's capacity.
Upload speed
Most cable and DSL plans have far less upload than download. A plan sold as "300 Mbps" may only offer 10 to 20 Mbps up. That can be enough for a few simultaneous calls, but not an office full of them. Fiber plans with symmetric speeds avoid the problem.
Test your real upload during business hours, from the room's network jack, not from a phone on a different Wi-Fi.
Quality matters more than speed
A fast connection with packet loss or jitter still produces frozen video and robotic audio. Microsoft's targets for the client-to-Microsoft path are:
| Metric | Target |
|---|---|
| One-way latency | Under 50 ms |
| Round-trip time | Under 100 ms |
| Packet loss | Under 1% (over 15 seconds) |
| Jitter | Under 30 ms |
Network best practices for rooms
- Wire the room. Use Ethernet for room systems, not Wi-Fi.
- Allow UDP. All major platforms prefer UDP for media and fall back to TCP, which is worse for real-time video.
- Avoid VPN hairpins and proxies for meeting traffic where your security policy allows it.
- Use QoS. Tag voice, video and screen-share traffic so it gets priority over bulk data on your switches and firewall.
- Separate guest traffic onto its own network or VLAN.
- Monitor. Teams admin tools and Zoom's dashboard show per-call network stats. Use them when users complain.
System requirements beyond bandwidth
- Laptops and PCs: a recent multi-core CPU, at least 8 GB RAM, and a current OS and browser. HD and background effects are CPU-heavy.
- Room systems: certified appliances bring their own compute. Windows room PCs must meet the platform's certified-hardware list. See choosing a conference room PC.
If calls still break up, see common video conferencing problems and how to test a video conferencing system.
Planning a multi-room rollout? Send us your room count and ISP details and we'll help size the network side too.
Related guides
- Teams Rooms Network Requirements: Bandwidth, Ports, QoS
- Conference Room Acoustic Requirements and Ratings
- Conference Room Electrical Requirements and Outlet Layout
- Microsoft Teams Rooms requirements: hardware and accounts
- Teams Rooms License Cost and Requirements
- Zoom Rooms requirements: PC specs, network and firewall
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