ℹ️ Preview calculator: calculation logic is still being verified. Output may not reflect realistic engineering values. Details

Multicast vs Unicast Bandwidth Calculator

Calculate bandwidth savings when using multicast instead of unicast delivery.

Total number of endpoints that need to receive the stream. In unicast, each receiver gets a separate copy. In multicast, all share one stream per network segment.
The bandwidth required for each individual stream. For video: 2-8 Mbps for HD, 15-35 Mbps for 4K. For data feeds: varies widely.
Mbps
How many different content streams or channels exist. Each unique stream requires its own multicast group. All receivers watching the same channel share one multicast stream.
On average, how many streams each receiver is subscribed to simultaneously. For IPTV this is usually 1. For market data feeds it could be many.

Multicast vs Unicast Results

Unicast (Traditional)

Individual Streams Required-
Total Unicast Bandwidth-Mbps
Total Unicast Bandwidth-Gbps

Multicast

Multicast Groups Required-
Total Multicast Bandwidth (source)-Mbps
Total Multicast Bandwidth-Gbps

Savings

Bandwidth Savings-%
Bandwidth Saved-Mbps
Bandwidth Saved-Gbps
Efficiency Multiplier-x
References: RFC 1112 (IP Multicasting). RFC 4601 (PIM-SM). RFC 3376 (IGMPv3). Multicast sends one copy per network segment vs. one copy per receiver in unicast.