Network & bandwidth planning

People assume video signage needs a huge, constant pipe. It doesn't — because signage downloads then plays locally, unlike streaming. Bandwidth is about distributing content, not sustaining playback.

The bandwidth myth

A screen playing a 100 MB video on loop uses network only once — to download it — then plays from local storage indefinitely. So a screen showing hours of video may use only a few hundred MB a day. This is why modest connections run many screens fine.

Doing the math

Estimate daily content changed × file size, not playback hours. Ten screens each receiving 200 MB of new content daily is ~2 GB of transfer spread across the day — trivial for most connections. Spikes happen on big rollouts (new campaign to all screens at once), so schedule large distributions off-peak.

Planning at scale

Across many sites, stagger content pushes so you don't saturate a shared uplink, and prefer players that download efficiently (delta updates, resumable transfers). Confirm the practical ports and access in the network requirements guide.

Optimisation tips

• Right-size media — see video encoding and file formats.
• Schedule big pushes off-peak to avoid business-hours contention.
• Cellular screens — watch data caps; keep files lean.
• Monitor transfer so surprises surface early.

Frequently asked questions

How much bandwidth does digital signage use?
Far less than streaming — content downloads once then plays locally, so a screen may use only a few hundred MB a day regardless of playback hours.

Does playing video all day use constant bandwidth?
No. The video downloads once and loops from local storage; the network is used only when content changes.

What causes bandwidth spikes?
Large rollouts — pushing a new campaign to many screens at once. Schedule big distributions off-peak and stagger them across sites.