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NetworkingMay 8, 20265 min read
VoIP Bandwidth Requirements: How Much Internet Do You Actually Need?
Quick Answer
Plan for ~100 Kbps per concurrent call (G.711) or ~40 Kbps (Opus). Most US small offices already have 50-200 Mbps service, which is plenty. Call quality issues are almost always caused by jitter, packet loss, or QoS — not raw bandwidth.
Bandwidth per call by codec
The codec is the audio compressor. Different codecs trade quality for size.
- G.711 — ~87 Kbps per call, gold-standard quality, default in US business VoIP
- G.729 — ~32 Kbps per call, slight quality dip, useful on constrained links
- Opus — ~40 Kbps per call, modern, used in most softphone apps
Math for a typical office
A 10-person team rarely has all 10 on calls at once. A safe planning number is 50% concurrent.
- 10 seats × 50% × 100 Kbps = 500 Kbps
- 25 seats × 50% × 100 Kbps = 1.25 Mbps
- 100 seats × 30% × 100 Kbps = 3 Mbps
What actually causes bad call quality
Bandwidth is rarely the culprit on modern US connections.
- Jitter — packets arriving with uneven spacing; mitigated by QoS
- Packet loss — anything above 1% is audible
- Bufferbloat — fix with a router that supports SQM/CAKE
- Wi-Fi — wired connections always sound better
Frequently Asked Questions
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