How Much Internet Bandwidth Does Your Business Actually Need?

# How Much Internet Bandwidth Does Your Business Actually Need?

"We need faster internet" is one of the most common IT complaints — but more bandwidth is not always the answer. Slow internet can be caused by network congestion, poor Wi-Fi, misconfigured QoS, or an overloaded firewall. Before upgrading your internet circuit, understand what you actually need and where the bottleneck really is.

## Per-User Bandwidth Requirements

The right bandwidth depends on what your employees do:

| Work Profile | Bandwidth Per User | Example Roles | |-------------|-------------------|---------------| | Light | 5-10 Mbps | Reception, basic email, web browsing | | Standard | 10-25 Mbps | Office workers, CRM, ERP, cloud apps | | Heavy | 25-50 Mbps | Video conferencing, large file transfers | | Power | 50-100+ Mbps | Video production, CAD/engineering, developers |

### Quick Formula

Minimum download bandwidth = (Number of concurrent users) × (average per-user need) × 1.5 safety factor

Example: 50 standard office users = 50 × 15 Mbps × 1.5 = 1,125 Mbps → 1 Gbps circuit

## Application-Specific Requirements

### VoIP Each concurrent VoIP call uses 85-100 Kbps (G.711 codec). 20 simultaneous calls = 2 Mbps. VoIP is low bandwidth but highly latency-sensitive — QoS matters more than raw bandwidth.

### Video Conferencing - Zoom/Teams 1:1 video: 2-4 Mbps per user - Zoom/Teams group call: 3-8 Mbps per user - Conference room with screen sharing: 5-10 Mbps

### Cloud Applications - Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace: 2-5 Mbps per active user - Cloud CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot): 1-3 Mbps per user - Cloud backup (ongoing): 10-50 Mbps (schedule during off-hours)

### Large File Transfers Calculate transfer time: **File size (GB) × 8 ÷ bandwidth (Gbps) = seconds**

Example: 10 GB file on 1 Gbps connection = 80 seconds (theoretical). Real-world is typically 50-70% of theoretical maximum.

## Upload vs Download

Most business internet connections are asymmetric — download speed is much higher than upload. This matters for:

• **Cloud backup** — Upload-limited. A 1 Gbps download / 35 Mbps upload connection chokes on initial backup seeding
• **VoIP** — Symmetric. Calls need equal upload and download bandwidth
• **Video conferencing** — Near-symmetric. Your camera feed is upload
• **Hosted servers** — Upload-critical if you host services

If your business relies heavily on cloud services, VoIP, or video conferencing, consider symmetric fiber (equal upload and download speeds).

## When to Upgrade

Upgrade your internet when:

## Before Upgrading: Check These First

## ISP Redundancy

Every business with more than 25 users or revenue-critical internet dependence should have two ISPs from different providers with automatic failover. The cost of a second connection ($200-$500/month) is far less than the cost of an internet outage.

Summit DNC designs network architectures that maximize your existing bandwidth, implement QoS for VoIP and critical applications, and recommend internet upgrades only when the data supports it.