Upload speed: what you need for video calls

What’s the difference between upload and download?

Upload means the data your device sends to the internet – in a video call, your camera image and your voice. Download is the data you receive, such as the other participants’ video. Both are measured in megabits per second (Mbit/s). On many DSL and cable connections, upload is much slower than download.

Video calls need both directions, because you send and receive at the same time. Upload is often the bottleneck: if a cloud backup or a large file upload is running in the background, there’s less left for your camera. You then see everyone else smoothly while your picture stutters on their screens.

Some providers give small figures in kbit/s (kilobits per second): 1,000 kbit/s equals 1 Mbit/s.

How much upload do Zoom, Teams and Google Meet need?

According to the providers, an HD video call needs roughly 1.2 to 4 Mbit/s of upload per device – depending on the service, the resolution and whether it’s a one-to-one or a group call. Audio only needs about 0.1 Mbit/s at most. Leave some headroom, because other devices and apps share the same line.

The figures in the table come from the official pages of Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. They apply per device: if two people in the same household are on calls at the same time, they need roughly twice as much. The services adapt quality to the bandwidth available – Teams, for example, prioritises audio over video when bandwidth is short.

Screen sharing is fairly light: Zoom puts it at 50 to 150 kbit/s, depending on whether a small video thumbnail is sent as well.

How do I measure my upload properly?

Use the Breitbandmessung, the broadband test offered in cooperation with Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). Connect your computer to the router with a LAN cable, close other apps and measure several times on different days. A single reading over Wi-Fi says little about your connection – it mainly reflects the wireless link.

1. Use a cable: Plug your computer straight into the router with a LAN cable. Over Wi-Fi, the wireless link affects the result.
2. Stop other traffic: Close other apps and pause cloud sync, backups and updates. The Breitbandmessung advises that no other data traffic should run during the test.
3. Disconnect other devices: Other devices on your Wi-Fi can skew the result. Switch off the router’s Wi-Fi for the test or disconnect them.
4. Measure more than once: Test on different days and at different times, and look at the upload figure, not just the download.
5. Compare with your contract: It states the upload speed your provider promises.

If you want to prove to your provider that your connection is consistently slower than agreed, the Breitbandmessung offers a formal verification procedure. According to its fixed-line FAQ (in German), it takes 10 measurements on each of three different calendar days – over a LAN cable only, and within a maximum of 14 calendar days. Both download and upload are assessed.

Why does my home upload matter when I’m away?

With a home-IP connection such as the Homvoya Kit, all your traffic runs through your connection at home. Whatever you receive on the road, your home connection sends on to you via its upload. So your upload at home is the ceiling for your speed while travelling – even if the hotel Wi-Fi is faster.

Here’s the route: your laptop is connected to the travel box. The travel box sends the data, encrypted with WireGuard, via a relay server in the EU to the home box on your router. From there it goes out to the internet through your connection. Replies take the same route back – and leave your home through its upload.

In a video call, this affects both directions: the other participants’ video arrives at your home and is sent on to you via the upload. Your own camera image goes from your home to the service via the upload too. So your home upload carries the call’s upload and download combined. An example using the Zoom figures from the table: a 720p group call needs 2.6 Mbit/s up and 1.8 Mbit/s down – so over a home-IP connection, roughly 4.4 Mbit/s of upload at home, plus anything other devices in your household are sending at the same time.

That’s why we recommend at least 10 Mbit/s of upload for Homvoya. That’s usually plenty for email, banking and video calls. All devices on the travel box share this upload.

The network where you are matters too

The travel box itself needs a decent connection in both directions at your destination, because all the data also passes through the hotel or holiday-rental Wi-Fi. The route via the relay and your home is also longer than a direct connection. Microsoft’s Teams documentation points out that VPNs typically aren’t designed for real-time media and that detours can add latency and jitter.

If your internet at home goes down, the connection won’t work. The compatibility check shows whether your connection is suitable – it asks for your upload speed. If you’re planning to work from abroad, also read what to sort out with your employer, the tax office and social security first.

How can I make video calls more stable with limited upload?

Take the load off your upload: pause backups and large uploads during the call, connect your laptop with a cable or use 5 GHz Wi-Fi, and lower the video quality if needed. If it’s still tight, turn your camera off for a while. This applies at home just as much as on the road with the travel box.

• Pause background uploads: Cloud sync, photo backups and updates share the line with your call.
• Cable instead of Wi-Fi: A wired connection is usually more stable than wireless. The travel box has LAN ports too.
• 5 GHz instead of 2.4 GHz: Microsoft recommends the 5 GHz band for real-time media, because the 2.4 GHz band is often affected by other devices. The travel box works on both bands.
• Lower the video quality: Check your service’s video settings to see whether you can turn off HD or cap the resolution.
• Camera off when you don’t need it: According to the providers, audio only needs about 0.1 Mbit/s at most.
• Fewer things at once: If other devices are streaming or downloading at the same time, there’s less left for your call.
• Test first: Before important meetings, make a short test call – ideally from the spot you’ll be calling from.