What Is the Bandwidth Usage of Coviu

This article describes the suitable bandwidth and data usage for a Coviu video call.

Last Updated: May 2024

On this page:

  1. Data usage per video call
  2. Bandwidth usage per video call
  3. Suitable network connections
  4. More support options

Data usage per video call

In short, the average 30-minute Coviu video call between two participants will use between 158 and 450 MB.

Coviu video calls will use up to 1 Mbps if the bandwidth is available. So, assuming you have enough available upstream and downstream bandwidth, the video call goes for 30 minutes, and there are two endpoints, your data usage will be a maximum of:

  • Data usage = 30 minutes * 60 seconds * 1 Mbps * 2 users / 8 bytes = 450 MB
If your video call gets pushed down to the minimum bandwidth usage, it is more like:
  • Data usage = 30 minutes * 60 seconds * 350 Kbps * 2 users / 8 bytes = 158 MB

The above numbers are calculated with two endpoints providing one audio-visual connection upstream and downstream each. If you plan to bring in a third, fourth or fifth party, your bandwidth usage will increase.


Bandwidth usage per video call

Coviu is built using peer-to-peer connections. This has the advantage that each connection finds the shortest possible path to send the data and thus reduces the delay in the connection. However, it also means that the more participants you have on a video call, the more incoming and outgoing connections you will have.

Ensure to calculate an extra 350 Kbps for upstream and downstream connections per participant you bring into the video call.


Suitable network connections

Modern connectivity can take many forms; you might be connected via NBN, ADSL, cable, optical fibre, 4G or 5G. Coviu can deal with any connectivity setups if you have a minimum of 350 Kbps upload and download connection speed for each participant in the video call. A low bandwidth may result in choppy, degraded and unstable video calls.

However, bandwidth is not the only important parameter; you may find it impossible to get sustained bandwidth for your Coviu video call if you connect via a wireless connection from a busy office. This is caused by the latency, jitter and packet loss introduced by the competing devices on the same wireless connection. A high latency, jitter and packet loss may result in lagging or lip-sync issues. We recommend the following to be met:

  • Upload and download latency should be less than 50 ms.
  • Upload and download jitter should be less than 30 ms.
  • Packet Loss should be 0%.

Be careful when you are connecting from home on a lower bandwidth connection; if you are using your bandwidth for uploads or downloads of other data, you may need to pause some online activities to get sufficient bandwidth for a Coviu video call (e.g. online gaming, TV streaming services, such as Netflix, etc.)

Note: Click here to learn about internet speed tests.


More support options

You have completed another Coviu help article. You now know the bandwidth and data requirements of a Coviu video call.

If this is not what you were looking for, explore our knowledge base and search for another article from here.

If you still require any assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly Customer Success team using any of the contact methods available here.