How to estimate total bandwidth requirements and approximate data consumption?
To determine the appropriate average bitrate for the camera settings, consider factors such as resolution, frame rate, image quality, and camera capabilities. As a rough estimate, for a 1080p camera set to 12 FPS, you can start with an average bitrate of 750 Kbps.
Next, decide the number of cameras you plan to use and ascertain whether the internet connection will be shared with other users or dedicated solely to the cameras. This information will help you estimate the total bandwidth requirements.
To calculate the total bandwidth requirements, multiply the average bitrates by the number of cameras. If the connection is not exclusive to the cameras, add any additional bandwidth required for other users.
As a good practice, include 1 Mbps of overhead for every 5 cameras. This overhead accounts for metadata traffic, bandwidth spikes, and potential congestion on your ISP's network, ensuring stable performance. Without this overhead, issues in any of the components (camera, router/modem, ISP lines) may lead to lost or partial frames, event metadata loss, or camera disconnects.
For example, suppose you have a project with 7 cameras set to 1080p and 12 FPS, with a dedicated internet channel. The total bandwidth requirement would be:
7 cameras * 750 Kbps + 2 Mbps overhead = 5250 Kbps + 2 Mbps = 7.25 Mbps upload bandwidth, assuming the cameras can maintain a 750 Kbps average bitrate. The 2 Mbps of overhead is recommended in this scenario since you have more than 5 but fewer than 10 cameras. If your internet connection experiences fluctuations or is shared with other users, a larger overhead is advisable.
To estimate data consumption, follow these steps:
Calculate the total bitrate for all cameras: 7 * 750 Kbps = 5250 Kbps
Convert Kbps to Kilobytes by dividing by 8: 5250 / 8 = 656.25 KB generated every second.
Convert Kilobytes to Megabytes by dividing by 1024: 656.25 / 1024 = 0.6408 MB.
Convert Megabytes to Gigabytes by dividing by 1024 again: 0.6408 / 1024 = 0.0006258 GB.
Calculate Gigabytes per hour by multiplying by 3600: 0.0006258 * 3600 = 2.25 GB generated every hour.
Determine Gigabytes per day by multiplying by 24: 2.25 * 24 = 54 GB generated every day.
To estimate consumption for longer periods, such as a month, multiply by the number of days (e.g., 30 days in a month): 54 * 30 = 1620 GB of data will be generated by these 7 cameras in one month.
Next, decide the number of cameras you plan to use and ascertain whether the internet connection will be shared with other users or dedicated solely to the cameras. This information will help you estimate the total bandwidth requirements.
To calculate the total bandwidth requirements, multiply the average bitrates by the number of cameras. If the connection is not exclusive to the cameras, add any additional bandwidth required for other users.
As a good practice, include 1 Mbps of overhead for every 5 cameras. This overhead accounts for metadata traffic, bandwidth spikes, and potential congestion on your ISP's network, ensuring stable performance. Without this overhead, issues in any of the components (camera, router/modem, ISP lines) may lead to lost or partial frames, event metadata loss, or camera disconnects.
For example, suppose you have a project with 7 cameras set to 1080p and 12 FPS, with a dedicated internet channel. The total bandwidth requirement would be:
7 cameras * 750 Kbps + 2 Mbps overhead = 5250 Kbps + 2 Mbps = 7.25 Mbps upload bandwidth, assuming the cameras can maintain a 750 Kbps average bitrate. The 2 Mbps of overhead is recommended in this scenario since you have more than 5 but fewer than 10 cameras. If your internet connection experiences fluctuations or is shared with other users, a larger overhead is advisable.
To estimate data consumption, follow these steps:
Calculate the total bitrate for all cameras: 7 * 750 Kbps = 5250 Kbps
Convert Kbps to Kilobytes by dividing by 8: 5250 / 8 = 656.25 KB generated every second.
Convert Kilobytes to Megabytes by dividing by 1024: 656.25 / 1024 = 0.6408 MB.
Convert Megabytes to Gigabytes by dividing by 1024 again: 0.6408 / 1024 = 0.0006258 GB.
Calculate Gigabytes per hour by multiplying by 3600: 0.0006258 * 3600 = 2.25 GB generated every hour.
Determine Gigabytes per day by multiplying by 24: 2.25 * 24 = 54 GB generated every day.
To estimate consumption for longer periods, such as a month, multiply by the number of days (e.g., 30 days in a month): 54 * 30 = 1620 GB of data will be generated by these 7 cameras in one month.
Updated on: 09/26/2023
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