Network Bandwidth Calculator

Bandwidth per IP camera depends on resolution and codec. With H.265 (HEVC): 720p uses about 0.5–1 Mbps, 1080p about 1–2 Mbps, 4K about 4–8 Mbps. With older H.264, roughly double those figures. H.265+ (smart encoding) can reduce bitrate by another 30–50% by dynamically lowering the bitrate for static scenes. MJPEG uses significantly more bandwidth (6–64 Mbps depending on resolution) and is rarely used for continuous recording.

H.265 (also called HEVC — High Efficiency Video Coding) is a video compression standard that achieves about 50% better compression than H.264 at the same visual quality. It uses larger and more flexible coding blocks (up to 64×64 pixels vs 16×16 in H.264) and improved motion prediction algorithms. For IP cameras, switching from H.264 to H.265 can halve your network bandwidth and storage requirements, allowing more cameras on the same infrastructure or reduced connection costs.

For IP cameras: multiply the number of cameras by the bitrate per camera, then add overhead (typically 15–25%) for network protocols, retransmissions, and control traffic. Account for whether all cameras are live-streaming and/or recording simultaneously. For general network planning: estimate peak concurrent usage (typically 70–90% of devices), multiply by per-device bandwidth, and add overhead. Always provision for 30–50% headroom above your calculated peak to handle bursts and future growth.