How Much Internet Bandwidth Does a 100-Person Office Need in Cambodia?
It is 10:00 a.m. in a busy office. The sales team is updating its CRM. Finance is working in a cloud accounting system. Several managers are in video meetings, while customer service is taking calls.
There are 100 employees in the building. How much internet bandwidth do they need?
There is no reliable answer based on headcount alone. A 100-person office should be sized for the work happening at the same time, especially during its busiest hours. Download capacity matters, but so do upload capacity, call quality, the office network and the cost of an outage.
Here is a practical way for a CEO, CTO or IT manager to assess the requirement.
Why doesn’t “100 employees” give you an Mbps answer?
Consider two offices in Phnom Penh with the same number of staff.
In the first, most people use email, web applications and shared documents. Video meetings are occasional. In the second, customer service uses cloud calling throughout the day, sales works in an online CRM, and multiple teams join video meetings while others upload files.
Both have 100 employees. Their bandwidth needs can be very different. The useful question is: What must the connection support when the office is busiest?
Look at how many video meetings and cloud phone calls happen simultaneously. Consider the demand from CRM, ERP and other cloud applications, along with large uploads, file synchronisation and cloud backups. Guest Wi-Fi, remote access and traffic between branches may also use the connection.
CCTV needs a closer look. Footage viewed remotely or stored in the cloud can use internet bandwidth. A camera recording only to a local system should not automatically be counted as a continuous internet upload.
A worked bandwidth example for a 100-person office
Suppose an office has 100 employees. During a busy period, 30 people are each in a separate 720p Zoom group video meeting. Assume the rest of the office’s traffic has been measured at 140 Mbps download and 90 Mbps upload during that same period.
Zoom’s published bandwidth guidance lists approximately 1.8 Mbps download and 2.6 Mbps upload per endpoint for this meeting mode. For 30 simultaneous meetings, that adds approximately 54 Mbps download and 78 Mbps upload.
Together, the video meetings and other office activity create an estimated busy-hour demand of 194 Mbps download and 168 Mbps upload. Adding 25% planning headroom brings the estimate to approximately 243 Mbps download and 210 Mbps upload.
In this particular example, an IT manager might evaluate a service capable of at least 300 Mbps in both directions, subject to the service terms and a technical review. A package advertised as 300 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload would fall short of the example’s upload target.
This is not a recommendation that every 100-person office buy 300 Mbps. Video settings, simultaneous meetings and other application traffic can all change the result. MaxBIT’s Business Internet Bandwidth Calculator uses its own planning assumptions and can provide a separate initial estimate.
Is 500 Mbps enough for 100 employees?
It could be more than enough for one office and insufficient for another.
First, confirm whether “500 Mbps” refers only to download speed or to both download and upload. Then consider how many employees use video, voice and cloud systems at the same time. If the office already experiences slowdowns, find out whether the cause is the internet connection, Wi-Fi, a firewall or other internal equipment. Plans for additional staff, branches or applications should also be part of the decision.
The same questions apply to a 1 Gbps proposal. More bandwidth is useful when demand justifies it, but the larger number alone does not explain how critical applications will perform.
What should an IT manager measure before upgrading?
If the office already has a connection, examine upload and download use during normal working days and the busiest periods. Check how long high demand lasts rather than relying on a single momentary spike. Record how many video and voice sessions run simultaneously, when call quality problems occur, and whether large transfers or backups take place during working hours.
It is also useful to compare performance on wired devices and Wi-Fi, then account for expected growth over the next 12 to 24 months.
Identify which applications cannot tolerate disruption. An overloaded upload path can affect meetings and calls even while a download speed test looks impressive.
For a new office without traffic history, build an estimate from the planned users and applications, then revisit it once the office is operating. Our broader guide, *How much internet speed does my business need?*, explains the first steps.
Should a 100-person office choose dedicated internet?
Headcount alone does not determine that either.
A company with demanding cloud workloads, significant uploads or specific service requirements may want to compare a business internet solution with Dedicated Internet Access. Ask the provider to explain the proposed upload and download capacity, support arrangements and service terms for your location.
In Cambodia, the office address and building conditions also matter. The available connection and installation approach should be checked for the actual site before treating any proposal as final.
Where does backup internet fit?
Bandwidth planning answers, “Can the connection carry our work?” Backup planning answers, “What happens if the primary connection fails?”
For an office where calls, payments or cloud systems are essential, consider a backup internet connection alongside the primary service. The backup may only need to carry the applications that must remain available during an outage. Its connection path, equipment and switching arrangements need their own review.
So how much bandwidth should you request?
For a 100-person office, begin with a busy-hour upload and download estimate, then discuss the service that can deliver it at your site. The worked example above produced a planning target of roughly 243 Mbps download and 210 Mbps upload. It is one office scenario, not an industry rule.
At MaxBIT, you can start with the Business Internet Bandwidth Calculator. For a recommendation based on your building, applications and network, request a free technical site survey.
The goal is to give your team enough capacity for the work that matters, at the time they need it most.