How Much Data Does CCTV Use? 5G CCTV SIM UK

How Much Data Does CCTV Use?

A CCTV camera uses about 10.8GB of mobile data per day for every 1Mbps of video it uploads non-stop. A typical 2Mbps 1080p stream uploading 24/7 uses about 648GB a month. A camera that records to an NVR on site and only streams when someone watches can use under 30GB a month.

Think of bitrate like water flowing from a tap. Bitrate (measured in Mbps, megabits per second) is how fast the water flows. Data usage is how much water fills the bucket by the end of the month. A bigger flow, or a tap left running longer, fills a bigger bucket.

Bitrate uploaded non-stop	Per day	Per 30 days
0.5Mbps (low-res or sub-stream)	5.4GB	162GB
1Mbps	10.8GB	324GB
2Mbps (typical 1080p, H.265)	21.6GB	648GB
4Mbps (typical 4MP/2K)	43.2GB	1,296GB
8Mbps (typical 4K)	86.4GB	2,592GB

Figures are calculated for a constant bitrate running 24 hours for 30 days. Real usage moves with variable bitrate, scene activity and network overheads.

The Three Ways CCTV Uses a SIM (And Why It Changes Everything)

Every CCTV system on a mobile connection behaves in one of three ways. Find yours and you know roughly which data bracket you are in.

How your system works	What travels over the SIM	Typical monthly data
1. Record on site, watch sometimes (SD card, DVR or NVR)	Only live views, playback, alerts and updates	Low: often 5GB to 50GB
2. Motion clips to the cloud	Short clips each time something moves	Varies a lot: 10GB to 200GB+
3. Continuous cloud recording	Every second of video, all day, every day	High: hundreds of GB to several TB

The simple rule: recording does not use mobile data. Sending video does.

A quiet warehouse with motion clips might send 20 clips a day. A busy construction site gate, with lorries, people and blowing tarpaulin, can trigger hundreds. Same camera, same settings, ten times the data.

How Much Data Does CCTV Use? Choosing a 5G CCTV SIM in the UK

The Data Saver Most People Don't Know About: Sub-Streams

Most modern IP cameras and NVRs (Hikvision, Dahua, Axis, Uniview, Reolink and others) record two streams at the same time:

Main stream: full quality, used for recording and evidence. For example 2Mbps to 8Mbps.
Sub-stream: a small, lower-quality copy, often 256kbps to 512kbps, used for phone apps and multi-camera grids.

When your manager opens the app on their phone to check the yard, it usually loads the sub-stream. That can cut remote-viewing data by 75% to 90% compared with the main stream.

Installer tip: set the app to open on the sub-stream by default. Only switch to the main stream when you need to zoom in on a number plate or a face. That one setting often decides whether a 50GB SIM is enough or not.