OnCloud: How do I manage camera bandwidth?

Applies to: OnCloud

Summary:

Use this page to check and limit how much network bandwidth your cameras use. To do this, you must be an administrator.

There are three general steps:

1. Check bitrates for cameras
   
   
2. Change the video settings for a camera
   
   
3. Change the network settings for a camera

Step By Step Guide:

Check bitrates

To start, check if any cameras are using too much bandwidth.

1. In OnCloud, click Reports at the top.
   
   
2. Scroll down to the Camera Average Streaming Bitrate section.
   
   
3. Click View Details:
   
   
   
   
   This opens the detailed bitrate report.
   
   
4. You can click the dropdowns at the top to customize the data:
   
   
   • All Cameras to filter by location, area, and camera
     
     
   • Past 7 Days to change the time period for the graph
     
     
   • Day to change the averaging period for each data point
     
     
5. Click the heading Average Bitrate in the table until the chevron points down.
   This sorts the list to show which cameras have the highest average bitrates:
   
   
   
   
   
6. If there is a camera using too much bandwidth, note the name and location. 

Change video settings for a camera

Use this section to reduce bandwidth by managing how a camera compresses video.

1. In OnCloud, click Cameras in the top menu.
   
   
2. Click the three dots beside a camera, then click Camera Settings:
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click Video Settings.
   
   
4. To reduce bandwidth, click the switches beside any of these settings:
   
   
   • Wisestream: This manages the compression rate based on whether objects are detected (such as people or vehicles).
     
     
   • Dynamic GOV: This manages the number of frames used in compression based on whether motion is detected. GOV means group of video.
     
     
   • Dynamic FPS: This manages the number of frames per second based on whether motion is detected. FPS means frames per second.
     
     These settings are turned on when the switch is to the right.
     
     
5. If you turn on Dynamic FPS, click and drag the slider to set the minimum number of frames to stream per second.

These settings work best to reduce bandwidth if you enable all of them together.

Change network settings for a camera

Use this section to reduce bandwidth by managing how a camera uses the network.

1. Start from the Camera Settings page in Change video settings for a camera above.
   
   
2. Click Network.
   
   
3. To only record video from the camera when an event is detected, click the switch beside Record Only Events.
   When the switch is to the right , the camera only records events. 
   
   
4. To see which events are detected, click Analytics Settings.
   
   
5. To set a bandwidth limit, click Set a Maximum Streaming Bitrate.
   
   
6. Click Continue.
   
   
7. Click and drag the slider to set a maximum bitrate, then select the days of the week and time range for the limit:
   
   
   
   
   
8. Click Add.

You can add up to three bitrate limits for a camera.

Next Steps:

• To change other camera settings, see OnCloud: How do I change camera settings?