Sizing a wireless CCTV network starts with the cameras. Add up what every camera sends, allow for the busiest moments, and check that each link, especially those nearest the control room, can carry the total.
Typical bitrates per camera
| Resolution | H.264 | H.265 |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p (2 MP) | 2.5 to 5 Mbps | 1.5 to 3 Mbps |
| 4K (8 MP) | 8 to 12 Mbps | 4 to 10 Mbps |
Common planning ranges at 25 to 30 frames per second. Your camera’s settings page shows its actual bitrate.
What pushes the bitrate up
- Busy scenes: traffic, crowds, trees moving in the wind and rain all produce more data
- Night-time: image noise in low light raises the bitrate of many cameras
- PTZ cameras: panning and zooming changes the whole picture, which compresses less well
- Constant bitrate (CBR) settings: the camera sends its full rate even when nothing is happening
- Second streams: a lower-resolution stream for remote viewing adds to the main recording stream
Adding it up
Multiply the number of cameras by their bitrate, add any second streams, then add headroom for busy scenes and future cameras. As an example, 40 cameras at 1080p using H.265 at 3 Mbps send 120 Mbps. With 30% headroom, plan for about 156 Mbps. Replacing those cameras with 4K models at 8 Mbps would raise the base figure to 320 Mbps, so it is worth sizing the backbone for the upgrade you expect.
Where the traffic concentrates
In a ring or mesh, the links nearest the control room carry traffic from every camera behind them, so they need the most capacity. Using more than one drop-off point to the wired network shares that load. Anywhere networks can use multiple drop-off points and choose paths by latency, load and link quality.
Data rate is not throughput
A radio’s data rate is the speed of the signal over the air. Usable throughput is lower, and depends on distance, channel width, antennas and interference. Anywhere nodes offer a data rate of up to 1,201 Mbps per radio, and dual radios keep throughput up across more than 30 hops, but each link should be planned against its real conditions rather than the headline rate.
Storage
Continuous recording at 1 Mbps produces about 10.8 GB a day. Multiply by each camera’s average bitrate and the number of days you keep footage to estimate recorder capacity. The 40-camera example above, at 3 Mbps each, needs about 1.3 TB a day.
Plan the links
The free link planner checks line of sight between two sites, including terrain and the Fresnel zone, and estimates each link’s throughput and availability.
Open the link planner →