How many Mbps is ideal to work from home with video calls?
When it comes to internet speed, download speed usually gets most of the attention. For video calls on Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, that's only half the story though. Video calls are a two-way street. Your upload speed is at least as important as your download speed. After all, you're not just receiving video, you're also sending live video and audio in high quality.
So how many Mbps do you actually need? Here's a look at the technical requirements and some practical guidelines.
What do the platforms themselves recommend?
If we look at the official recommendations from Microsoft Teams, the technical network requirements are actually quite modest. For a single user, for example, Microsoft recommends these bandwidths:
- 1-op-1 videocall: 1.5 Mbps recommended download speed, 1.5 Mbps recommended upload speed
- Videoconferencing: 4 Mbps recommended download speed, 2.5 Mbps recommended upload speed
- Screen sharing: 2.5 Mbps recommended download speed, 2.5 Mbps recommended upload speed
There is one catch: these are the requirements for your video call itself. And chances are, plenty of other devices are using your internet connection at the same time.
Why you need more upload and download speed in practice
A video call may technically need only a few Mbps, but there's usually a lot more going on at home. While you're in a meeting, your computer might be syncing files to the cloud via SharePoint or Google Drive, an update could be running in the background, or someone else at home might be streaming. That's why some extra breathing room in both your download and upload speed comes in handy. It reduces the risk of choppy audio, sluggish screen sharing or frozen video.
- One person working from home: 20 Mbps download and 5 to 10 Mbps upload gives you some extra breathing room on top of what a single video call requires.
- Multiple people working from home: if several people are working from home at the same time, or others are streaming and downloading during the day, 100 Mbps download and 20 to 40 Mbps upload gives you more room for all that simultaneous internet traffic.
Does your internet technology make a difference?
How those download and upload speeds are delivered depends entirely on the technology available in your street. And there are some major technical differences in how that data is handled.
COAX
Cable providers such as Telenet use COAX. This technology can deliver high download speeds too, but in many subscriptions, upload speeds are significantly lower than download speeds. If you work from home and regularly upload large files or have several people on video calls at the same time, it's worth checking both the download and upload speed of your subscription.
Copper & Fiber
With Mobile Vikings, you surf via Proximus' copper network (VDSL) or Fiber network. Both provide enough upload capacity for working from home and video calls, while Fiber enables much higher speeds.
- Via copper: Unlimited Fast Internet offers upload speeds of up to 40 Mbps over copper. That gives you plenty of breathing room for video calls, uploading files and using other applications at the same time.
- Via Fiber: Fiber sends data using light signals and enables much higher upload speeds. You get up to 50 Mbps with Unlimited Fast Internet, 500 Mbps with Unlimited Superfast Internet, 750 Mbps with Unlimited Megafast Internet and even 1 Gbps with Unlimited Hyperfast Internet. That extra capacity is especially useful when several people are on video calls at the same time, uploading large files or using other bandwidth-heavy applications.
Conclusion: find the right balance
For smooth working from home and video calls, you need an internet connection with enough breathing room in both directions. So don't just look at download speed, check your upload speed too. Especially if several people are videocalling, uploading files, streaming or using other bandwidth-heavy applications at the same time.
The copper and Fiber networks behind Mobile Vikings give you plenty of upload capacity for working from home, while Fiber enables much higher speeds. Discover what to look out for when choosing the best internet for working from home. Want to know which speed is available at your address? Check your address and find out right away.
Frequently asked questions
How many Mbps do you need to work from home?
For one person working from home, 20 Mbps download and 5 to 10 Mbps upload is generally enough. If several people are working from home at the same time, or others are streaming and downloading too, 100 Mbps download and 20 to 40 Mbps upload gives you more breathing room.
What's the difference between download and upload speed?
Download speed determines how quickly you get things from the internet. Think streaming your favourite series, gaming or downloading files.
Upload speed determines how quickly you send things to the internet. Like posting photos, uploading videos or sending files.