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What are the bandwidth requirements?

    Learn about join.me bandwidth requirements for high-quality screen sharing and video conferencing.

    join.me bandwidth requirements are discussed in detail in the join.me Architecture Whitepaper.

    Actual bandwidth requirements for high-quality screen sharing vary with screen resolution and the content being shared. As a general rule, we recommend at least 1Mbps of bandwidth on both the viewer and presenter side for sustained full-screen animation and shared control (when a participant is remotely controlling the presenter's screen).

    Content that changes infrequently (such as a PowerPoint presentation) can be usefully shared on links as weak as a GPRS connection.

    Table 1 provides estimates of bandwidth consumption in various scenarios.

    Table 1. Sample bandwith requirements
    What's being shared Example Details Bandwidth
    Small Video Youtube 360p movie clip, minimal screen block fragmentation ~800kbps
    Fullscreen Video 1080p movie clip, minimal screen block fragmentation ~2500kbps
    Website with various content Facebook Heavy scrolling ~800kbps
    Website with mostly text News Site Mild scrolling ~400kbps
    Presentation PowerPoint Many images, colors, animations ~800kbps
    Presentation PowerPoint Mainly bullet points and solid background ~400kbps

    Video conference bandwidth considerations

    For meetings using video conferencing, Table 2 provides an estimate of bandwidth consumption in various scenarios.

    Table 2. Video bandwidth requirements
    What's being shared Resolution Bandwidth (at 30 FPS )
    Screen shared 320 x 240 100 - 500 Kbps
    Screen paused (2 participants) 1280 x 720 1.0 - 2.0 Mbps
    Screen paused (>2 participants) 640 x 480 0.5 - 1.0 Mbps

    VoIP bandwidth considerations

    For best results, VoIP (internet calling) needs at least 100kbps of sustained bandwidth available, preferably on a stable, low-latency connection. Network congestion may result in progressively larger audio dropouts until the link is restored.