How much bandwidth does Microsoft Teams need?
This is the bandwidth requirements table from Microsoft Learn, in kilobits per second, upload/download. The figures are per device, and Teams always favours audio over video when bandwidth runs short.
| Modality | Minimum | Recommended | Best performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio, one-to-one | 10/10 | 58/58 | 76/76 |
| Audio, meetings | 10/10 | 58/58 | 76/76 |
| Video, one-to-one | 150/150 | 1,500/1,500 | 4,000/4,000 |
| Video, meetings | 150/200 | 2,500/4,000 | 4,000/4,000 |
| Screen sharing, one-to-one | 200/200 | 1,500/1,500 | 4,000/4,000 |
| Screen sharing, meetings | 250/250 | 2,500/2,500 | 4,000/4,000 |
Source: Microsoft Learn, Prepare your organization’s network for Teams, checked 29 September 2026. Minimum means video up to 240p; recommended means up to 1080p; best performance suits large meetings, lossy networks and fast-moving screen shares.
In everyday terms, a Teams video meeting needs about 2.5 Mbps up and 4 Mbps down at the recommended level, which almost any broadband line can supply. The catch is that it is per device, so a household with several people on calls multiplies it.
Network thresholds: latency, jitter and packet loss
Microsoft’s call-quality dashboard classes an audio stream as poor when any one of three averages is exceeded. These are failure points, not targets, and Microsoft says a poor label does not always mean users noticed.
| Metric | Microsoft “poor” above | NetCheckPro “Good” up to | What you hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jitter | 30 ms | 15 ms | Robotic voices |
| Packet loss | 10% | 1% | Missed syllables, choppy video |
| Round-trip time | 500 ms | 60 ms | Walkie-talkie pauses |
Microsoft figures and symptoms from Microsoft Learn, Use CQD to manage call and meeting quality. NetCheckPro thresholds are our own, set well below Microsoft’s failure points so that a Good result leaves headroom.
New to these terms? Read what is jitter, then run the packet loss test if your results show more than 1%.
Why Teams freezes when your speed test looks fine
A speed test fills the pipe with one big transfer and reports the peak. A call is a thin stream of small packets that must arrive on time. A line can be excellent at the first and poor at the second. For a step-by-step diagnosis, follow our guide to Teams video freezing when your speed test is fine.
- Jitter and packet loss. Fast plans can still deliver packets late or drop them.
- Saturated upload. When a backup or cloud sync fills your upstream, the queue delays your voice too. Check upload speed and the bufferbloat test.
- Blocked UDP. Teams prefers UDP for media and falls back to TCP if it must. Microsoft explains that TCP retransmits stale packets, which can make a bad situation worse.
- A struggling device. A maxed-out CPU or old Wi-Fi driver mimics a network problem.
Teams audio cutting out: causes and fixes
Match the symptom to the metric, using Microsoft’s own descriptions: robotic voices point to jitter, missing words to packet loss, and walkie-talkie pauses to high round-trip time.
- Run the test above and note the jitter and packet loss figures.
- Switch to Ethernet, or move next to the router and use 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
- Pause uploads, backups and cloud sync, then test again.
- Restart the router and update your Wi-Fi driver and the Teams app.
- Turn off the VPN if your employer allows it, or ask IT about split tunnelling.
- Still bad? Read our jitter guide or ask about a business internet audit.
Teams on Wi-Fi vs Ethernet
Microsoft notes that Wi-Fi networks are not necessarily designed for real-time media. The 2.4 GHz band can work but is disturbed by other consumer devices, while 5 GHz is better suited to calls if you have signal coverage. Ethernet removes the radio from the equation and is the simplest fix for a laggy Teams call.
If you must use Wi-Fi, sit in the same room as the router, choose 5 GHz and avoid extenders.
Teams on VPN
Microsoft recommends letting Teams traffic bypass a VPN, known as split tunnelling. Its reasons: VPNs are not built for real-time media, some do not support UDP, they add another layer of encryption, and hairpinning can route you to a distant Teams front door, adding latency and jitter.
Not sure whether your VPN is the culprit? Test on and off with the VPN on vs off test. Compare Teams with Zoom and Teams bandwidth if you are choosing between them.
Sources
Figures attributed to a vendor come from the pages below. Thresholds marked as NetCheckPro guidelines are our own rules of thumb, not an industry standard.
- Prepare your organization’s network for Teams – Microsoft Learn. Bandwidth requirements table, VPN split tunnelling, Wi-Fi bands, QoS.
- Use CQD to manage call and meeting quality in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Learn. Poor-stream thresholds (jitter over 30 ms, packet loss over 10%, round trip over 500 ms), symptoms, UDP and TCP.