Quick Answer
25 Mbps is generally fast enough for Zoom video conferencing, but the quality can vary depending on the number of participants, whether you’re screen sharing, and other network factors. Zoom recommends a minimum bandwidth of 1.5 Mbps for group video calls and 3.0 Mbps for one-on-one calls. For HD video, Zoom suggests at least 1.8 Mbps for group calls and 1.5 Mbps for one-on-one calls. With 25 Mbps, you should have enough bandwidth for smooth HD video as long as there aren’t too many users competing for bandwidth on the same network.
Zoom Bandwidth Requirements
The bandwidth required for Zoom calls depends on a few key factors:
- Number of participants – More participants means more video streams, requiring higher bandwidth.
- Video quality – Standard definition video requires less bandwidth than HD.
- Screen sharing – Sharing your screen consumes more bandwidth.
- Upload vs. download speed – Zoom requires more download bandwidth than upload.
Here are Zoom’s recommended bandwidth speeds for different use cases:
| Use Case | Required Download Speed |
|---|---|
| One-on-one video call | 600 kbps (0.6 Mbps) for high quality SD, 1.2 Mbps for HD |
| Group video call | 800 kbps (0.8 Mbps) for high quality SD, 1.5 Mbps for HD |
| Screen sharing only | 800 kbps – 1 Mbps |
| Screen sharing + video call | 1.5 – 3 Mbps |
| Full HD gallery view | 2.5 – 3.5 Mbps |
As you can see, even a full HD Zoom call with multiple participants and screen sharing can work with as little as 2.5 Mbps download bandwidth.
However, these numbers are just recommendations. In reality, you often need higher bandwidth speeds to maintain a smooth Zoom session. That’s because network congestion, interference, and other factors can reduce your actual speeds.
25 Mbps Should Be Sufficient for Most Zoom Uses
With a 25 Mbps internet connection, you should have no issues with standard Zoom calls. Here are some example use cases with 25 Mbps:
- One-on-one video call – Even at the highest HD quality, a 1-on-1 Zoom call only needs 1.5 Mbps at most. 25 Mbps provides 16X the recommended bandwidth.
- Small group video call – A 5-person HD Zoom call requires at least 4 Mbps total. With 25 Mbps, each person would have 5 Mbps available just for Zoom, enabling HD video.
- Medium group video call – A 10-person HD call needs 8-10 Mbps. 25 Mbps is still enough, though users may experience some quality drops if other household members are using bandwidth.
- Basic screen sharing – If you present your screen to a small group, your upstream bandwidth is usually the bottleneck before download. 25 Mbps gives ample upload room for screen sharing.
- HD screen sharing – Even a complex HD screen share stream to 10 people needs only around 5 Mbps. So 25 Mbps allows room for HD. But more participants could constrain bandwidth.
For normal Zoom usage like these examples, 25 Mbps will provide a good experience. However, there are some high-bandwidth use cases where 25 Mbps may not suffice:
- Large meetings (25+ people) – The more participants, the more bandwidth used. Large webinars may need 10+ Mbps.
- Multiple HD video streams – Viewing gallery view with multiple HD participants can consume 20+ Mbps.
- High resolution screen sharing – Sharing 4K or multi-screen projects uses more bandwidth.
- Other household bandwidth usage – If family members stream video during your Zoom call, congestion may occur.
So while 25 Mbps can handle most typical Zoom calls, very large meetings or HD multi-stream usage could benefit from higher bandwidth.
Tips for Better Zoom Performance on 25 Mbps
To take full advantage of 25 Mbps for Zoom, follow these tips:
- Close other bandwidth-intensive apps before your meeting, like video streaming or large downloads.
- Connect your computer directly to your router with ethernet for faster speeds.
- Make sure no one else in your household is using heavy bandwidth during your call.
- Adjust your Zoom settings to “Optimize for video call” and disable HD when unnecessary.
- Turn off your video if you aren’t speaking to save bandwidth.
- Limit gallery view to a reasonable number of participants.
- If using WiFi, position yourself close to the router and minimize interference.
Enabling your Zoom settings like “adjust for poor connection” and “bandwidth saver” can also help deliver better quality on constrained networks.
Impact of Latency on Call Quality
It’s important to note that internet speed isn’t just about bandwidth. Latency, or response time, also impacts call quality. Zoom needs consistent low latency for smooth video and audio.
On a 25 Mbps connection, latency is unlikely to be an issue. But on slower networks, factors like network congestion can sometimes increase latency, even if bandwidth is sufficient. This can cause choppy audio and video. If this happens, limiting other network usage can help decrease latency.
Conducting a Speed Test
To get a true measure of your internet speeds, perform a broadband speed test using a tool like Speedtest. This will measure both your download and upload speeds, as well as ping latency. Run multiple tests to get a reliable average speed.
Pay attention to both bandwidth and latency results. And be sure to test wired speeds for computers that connect via ethernet, or WiFi speeds for mobile devices. Comparing your measured speeds to Zoom’s recommendations above can indicate if you have enough bandwidth headroom for smooth video calls.
Internet Speed vs. Zoom Call Quality
While Zoom can function on slow connections down to 0.6 Mbps, faster speeds dramatically improve video, screen sharing, and overall call quality. Here’s how call quality typically looks based on your internet speeds:
| Internet Speed | Call Quality |
|---|---|
| 0.6 – 1 Mbps | Choppy video and audio. SD only. |
| 1 – 3 Mbps | Decent SD quality. High quality SD possible. |
| 3 – 6 Mbps | Smooth SD video. HD possible. |
| 6 – 15 Mbps | High quality HD video. Few quality drops. |
| 15 – 25 Mbps | HD video with no observable issues. |
| 25+ Mbps | HD multi-stream capable. Ultra HD potential. |
So while 25 Mbps internet can deliver excellent Zoom performance, even faster speeds provide flexibility for large meetings and bandwidth-heavy use cases.
Conclusion
A 25 Mbps internet connection provides enough bandwidth for smooth HD Zoom calls in most typical usage scenarios. As long as there aren’t too many participants or other bandwidth-intensive apps running, 25 Mbps allows high video and screen sharing quality on Zoom meetings. However, for large meetings with 25+ people or very multi-stream heavy calls, higher internet speeds may be beneficial. Checking your true download and upload speeds can verify you have enough bandwidth overhead for the ideal Zoom experience.
