Count rooms in calls at once
Add up the rooms that may be in meetings at the same time, not the number of rooms you have.
Plan for the busiest hour, not the average.
Planning Guide
How Many Mbps Do Teams and Zoom Meeting Rooms Need?
One video call needs less than most people expect, but several rooms in calls, shared screens and a busy office network add up. Here are the vendors' own figures, how to total them for your rooms, and what matters besides speed.
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In short: Microsoft's recommended figure for a Teams meeting is about 2.5 Mbps up and 4 Mbps down per device, with a minimum of 150 kbps up and 200 kbps down for basic video. Zoom's published figures for group video are about 2.6 Mbps up and 1.8 Mbps down at 720p, and 3.8 Mbps up and 3.0 Mbps down at 1080p. Audio alone needs well under 100 kbps. A meeting room counts as one device in a call, so total the figure for every room that may be in a call at the same time, add the rest of the office's traffic and keep headroom. A stable, cabled, low-delay connection matters as much as raw speed. Emirtech designs and installs meeting-room systems and the cabling and network behind them in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
What Microsoft and Zoom publish
| Type of call | Microsoft Teams | Zoom Meetings |
|---|---|---|
| Audio only | About 58 kbps each way recommended (minimum 10 kbps). | About 60 to 80 kbps. |
| One-to-one video | About 1.5 Mbps each way recommended (minimum 150 kbps). | 720p: about 1.2 Mbps each way. 1080p: about 3.8 Mbps up and 3.0 Mbps down. |
| Group meeting video | About 2.5 Mbps up and 4 Mbps down recommended (minimum 150 kbps up and 200 kbps down). Up to 1080p when the network allows. | 720p: about 2.6 Mbps up and 1.8 Mbps down. 1080p: about 3.8 Mbps up and 3.0 Mbps down. |
| Screen sharing | In meetings about 2.5 Mbps each way recommended (minimum 250 kbps). | About 50 to 150 kbps for slides, with or without a video thumbnail. |
Figures are the vendors' published guidance, read on 6 November 2026 from Microsoft Learn and Zoom Support. They change, so check the current pages before you size a network. Zoom also lists about 2.0 Mbps to receive 25 gallery views and about 4.0 Mbps for 49.
How to work out what your rooms need
Check upload as well as download
Video calls send and receive, so look at both directions.
Many office lines are weaker on upload.
Add the rest of the office
Cloud files, backups, updates and guest Wi-Fi share the same connection.
Keep headroom above the total.
Cable the room
Use a cabled network connection for the room system rather than Wi-Fi.
A stable connection beats a fast one.
Prioritise meeting traffic
Ask your IT team to give Teams or Zoom traffic priority where the network equipment supports it.
That stops a large download crowding out a call.
Test at your busiest time
Run a test call when the office is busiest and watch for freezing, delay and dropped audio.
A speed test alone does not show call quality.
A worked example
Take five rooms in Teams meetings at the same moment, using the recommended meeting figures above (2.5 Mbps up and 4 Mbps down each): 5 × 2.5 = 12.5 Mbps up and 5 × 4 = 20 Mbps down, before anything else the office is doing. Three rooms in Zoom group video at 1080p (3.8 Mbps up and 3.0 Mbps down each) come to 11.4 Mbps up and 9 Mbps down.
This is arithmetic on the published figures, not a measurement of any network. Real calls vary with the video quality each platform picks.
What you can check and what to ask us
You can test your own line; planning several rooms and the network behind them is where an installer helps.
You can check
Run a speed test at a busy time and note the upload speed, make a test call from the room, and see whether the room system is cabled or on Wi-Fi.
Ask your IT team or us
Sizing the line for several rooms, giving meeting traffic priority, Wi-Fi coverage in the room, cabling to the room and a second internet line for failover.
Beyond speed
Delay, lost packets and unstable Wi-Fi cause freezing even on a fast line, as do firewall rules that block the platform and poor microphone and camera placement.
Emirtech is an independent integrator in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, ADMCC-approved for security systems in the Abu Dhabi emirate. We design and install meeting-room AV and the cabling and network behind it in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain and are not a brand partner or distributor. We have no office in Al Ain, so visits there are by appointment.
Have this ready when you contact us
- How many meeting rooms you have and how many may be in calls at once.
- Which platform you use: Teams, Zoom or both.
- Your internet line type and its upload and download speeds from a test at a busy time.
- Whether each room has a cabled network point or relies on Wi-Fi.
- Who looks after your IT or firewall, if anyone.
- Room sizes, current equipment and a photo of each room.
This page is general information about meeting-room bandwidth, based on the vendors' published guidance at the date shown. Brand names such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom are trademarks of their owners; Emirtech is not a brand partner or distributor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Mbps do I need for a Teams meeting?
Microsoft lists about 2.5 Mbps up and 4 Mbps down as the recommended figure for meeting video on each device, and a minimum of 150 kbps up and 200 kbps down for basic video. Teams delivers up to 1080p when the network allows.
How much bandwidth does Zoom use for HD video?
Zoom lists about 2.6 Mbps up and 1.8 Mbps down for group video at 720p, and about 3.8 Mbps up and 3.0 Mbps down at 1080p.
How much internet does a meeting room need?
A room system counts as one device in a call, so use the per-call figures for each room, and the higher 1080p figures if the room will run HD video. Then add the rooms that may be in calls at the same time and the rest of the office's traffic.
Does screen sharing use a lot of bandwidth?
Zoom lists about 50 to 150 kbps for sharing slides, and Microsoft recommends about 2.5 Mbps each way for screen sharing in meetings. Sharing moving video can need more than sharing slides.
Is Wi-Fi good enough for a meeting room?
A cabled connection is the safer choice for a fixed room system because it is steadier. Wi-Fi can work if it is well designed, but it varies more. See Wi-Fi vs Ethernet.
Why does my video call freeze when the speed test looks fine?
A speed test shows peak throughput. Calls are also sensitive to delay, lost packets, weak upload and other traffic on the line. Test at your busiest time and check the Wi-Fi. See Wi-Fi interference troubleshooting.
Do I need a dedicated internet line for meeting rooms?
Not always. Many offices share one line and give meeting traffic priority. If meetings are business-critical, a second line with automatic failover keeps them running if one fails. See multi-WAN and ISP failover.
Does the number of people in the room change the bandwidth?
Generally no, because the room is one device in the call. What you receive depends more on how many remote participants and video tiles are shown, for example Zoom lists about 2.0 Mbps for 25 gallery views.
How much does an audio-only call use?
Very little: Microsoft lists about 58 kbps each way as recommended and Zoom about 60 to 80 kbps.
How do I get a meeting room set up in Abu Dhabi or Al Ain?
Send a WhatsApp message or use the request form with the details above. We reply the same working day, assess the room and network on site and send a written quotation before any work. See video conferencing services.
Planning meeting-room calls?
Tell us how many rooms you have and which platform you use. We reply the same working day, assess on site and send a written quotation.
Need a free site survey or quote in Abu Dhabi?
Talk to Emirtech's engineers — we reply the same working day across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. CCTV, security, IT, AV and smart-building solutions.
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