How Much Bandwidth Does a Streaming Platform Need?
Bandwidth is the number that makes or breaks a streaming project. The good news: sizing it is simple multiplication.
The formula
Concurrent viewers × stream bitrate × ~1.3 overhead = bandwidth you need. The 1.3 factor covers protocol overhead and traffic spikes.
Typical bitrates
- 720p: roughly 3–5 Mbps per viewer
- 1080p: roughly 5–8 Mbps per viewer
- 4K: roughly 15–25 Mbps per viewer
What that means in practice
A 1 Gbps port comfortably serves around 100–150 concurrent 1080p viewers once overhead is accounted for. If your audience is larger, or you deliver 4K, you move to a 10 Gbps port or split the load across multiple servers in different locations.
Also plan for storage throughput: video-on-demand libraries benefit from fast disks as much as fast ports, since many viewers pull different files at once.
Sizing without guesswork
Our offshore streaming servers come with 1–10 Gbps ports in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. If you can estimate your peak concurrent viewers, open a ticket with that number and we will match you to the right port size — it is cheaper to start right than to migrate mid-growth.