CCTV REMOTE ACCESS & INTERNET BANDWIDTH

HOW INTERNET BANDWIDTH AFFECTS CCTV REMOTE VIEWING

Before installing security cameras, internet speed and consumption are definitely factors to take into consideration. With most home or business CCTV security system users for whom remote viewing is almost always a prerequisite, it’s important to know what internet speeds are required to remotely access security cameras.

A lot of times, users end up getting frustrated at being unable to remotely access their CCTV system and might end up blaming the system if they believe their internet connection is adequate for the task.

When it comes to remote viewing, upload speed is even more important than download speed. Unfortunately, in many home and small business internet packages, service providers use download speeds as the selling point, to the detriment of upload speeds. In these contexts, users value and utilize download capabilities more than upload speeds, which are thus neglected by service providers, who then prioritize download speeds over upload speeds.

This means that users get surprised and frustrated when they have a hard time remotely accessing their cameras at home or at the business premises, even though the ‘internet’ is fast enough.

They might resort to viewing the cameras in lower resolution to make streaming a little less bandwidth-intensive, which then defeats the purpose of having ‘expensive’ high-definition cameras in the first place.

Upload vs. Download speeds

The most important factor as far as CCTV remote access is concerned is the upload speed of the internet service the NVR, DVR, or camera is connected to.

Upload speeds determine how fast the internet service can push data out to the internet, which in this case would be the security camera footage. Slow upload speeds mean the camera or recording device will have a hard time uploading or pushing data out to the internet to be accessed by a remote device. In most instances, slower upload speeds are due to the disproportionately higher demand for faster download speeds.

Download speeds are important for the smart phone or device being used to remotely access the cameras, as they are downloading footage from the camera rather than uploading.

For users, using free online tools like speedtest.net is an easy way to determine both upload and download speeds, compare them with those that the service provider is claiming to deliver, and determine whether the speeds are adequate enough for the intended applications.

For CCTV remote access, at least 5 Mbps of upload speeds would be adequate for sub-stream or low resolution, but for a flawless high-definition viewing experience, at least 10 Mbps of upload speeds is required. The higher the upload speeds for the camera or NVR/DVR, the better the experience.

Bitrate, Frame rate and resolution

For slower upload speeds, there are a few hacks they can use to improve the viewing experience. One aspect to look at is the bitrate, which is the amount of data a camera uses when recording and streaming over the internet. The bitrate is determined by the camera’s frame rate and resolution and can be controlled by the NVR or DVR that the camera is connected to or by the camera itself in the case of stand-alone cameras.

Using a camera system that allows for both the main stream (high resolution) and sub-stream (low resolution) enables a user to set the cameras to different bit rates. Sub-stream settings can be used for fluid remote viewing in cases of slow internet speeds, though the image will be less crisp.

Main stream settings deliver crisper images due to viewing in high resolution, but the video can lag or appear glitchy at slow speeds.

While IP cameras in particular may slow down a network, their effect may be so small as to be negligible, especially if they aren’t being accessed remotely via a smartphone, PC, or any other device.

What factors affect the quality of CCTV remote viewing?

• The upload speed of the internet connection the NVR, DVR, or cameras are connected to. Higher upload speeds also mean more bandwidth to push higher-resolution video streams to the internet faster.

• If the CCTV security system uses a wired or wireless connection to the internet. Wired connections are generally faster than wireless connections, as they aren’t susceptible to the myriad of factors that negatively impact Wi-Fi speeds.

• The resolution of the cameras being remotely accessed and the amount of bandwidth they consume. Higher-resolution cameras require more bandwidth for flawless streaming, while lower-resolution cameras require less bandwidth. Alternatively, higher-resolution cameras can be viewed in lower resolution if network speed is a problem.

• How many cameras are being accessed at once by remote users or devices. Since each camera consumes a variable chunk of the network bandwidth, more cameras on the network means more bandwidth consumption and more strain on the network.

• How many users or remote access devices are accessing the CCTV system at any one time

• How fast the remote access device access is i.e. the mobile phone or PC’s processing speed.

• The speed of the internet or data connection at the remote access device’s end. A mobile phone connected to a slow Wi-Fi or cellular connection will offer an inferior experience, particularly slow download speeds.

What factors affect camera bandwidth usage?

There are a number of factors that influence how much internet bandwidth an IP camera uses i.e. how much data the security camera uploads and downloads.

• Compression and Coding: When it comes to video surveillance compression formats, MJPEG and H264 are the most common and effective compression formats. Newer compression formats like H265+ are even more efficient, as they significantly reduce storage and bandwidth requirements even at high resolutions.

• Resolution: Higher-resolution cameras consume more bandwidth and require more storage than their lower-resolution counterparts, which can slow down a network. An 8 MP camera would need more bandwidth for data transfer than a 4 MP camera. As a user, you might want to get the lowest possible resolution to get the job done, which requires assessing what needs to be monitored so as not to compromise security.

• Frame Rate: The security camera frame rate determines the effectiveness of the security camera footage. Higher frame rates per second (fps) result in better video quality, which in turn requires more bandwidth. For slower networks, camera frame rates can be reduced to around 15 fps, which is enough to offer acceptable results without really compromising the quality of the video to the point of being useless. 

• Number of IP cameras: Each IP camera uses a variable amount of bandwidth, so the number of IP cameras would consume a commensurate chunk of the network bandwidth.

• Motion-activated cameras. IP cameras use bandwidth all the time even when there’s no motion detected, which is why they have a pre-record feature, meaning that they were recording all the time but only kept relevant parts of the footage. Battery-powered cameras, on the other hand, can be set to sleep mode and activated only when motion is detected, thus only using the network when active.

• Other factors like scene complexity, camera model, and lighting also affect bandwidth consumption in varying ways.

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Boney Maundu : Nairobi, Kenya