How Much Internet Speed Do I Demand?

At a glance

Picking a new net plan can be a pain. You want to make sure you have enough internet speed to avoid buffering and disjointed Zoom meetings, but going with the fastest speed might be a waste matter of coin.

Every bit a full general baseline, you want at to the lowest degree x Mbps of download speed per person who could be online at the aforementioned time, but the actual amount of internet speed you need depends on how many devices are connected to the cyberspace and how you apply the internet.

Here are the basic considerations for choosing an cyberspace plan:

  1. Bandwidth requirements
  2. Common internet speed options
  3. Upload speed vs. download speed
  4. Internet types

Go along reading to learn more near internet speed and how much of it you should pay for. And if you're looking for a new internet service provider (ISP) that can give you faster internet speeds, check out our list of ISPs nosotros recommend.

Detect net prices for your new home

How do I choose an cyberspace speed?

This is going to exist a bit of (easy) math. But don't worry—yous demand to exercise this but in one case to know how much net speed you need.

What you need to do is figure out the number of devices that volition potentially be online at the same fourth dimension, along with the amount of bandwidth required to keep each connection running smoothly.

Here's a chart to aid you effigy out how many Mbps each of your internet connections might need. Or you tin skip the math and get a personalized internet speed recommendation.

Bandwidth requirements for common online activities

Activity

Recommended bandwidth per instance

Spider web browsing

3–5 Mbps

Email

1–2 Mbps

Music streaming

1–2 Mbps

Checking social media

3–x Mbps

Video streaming

5–25 Mbps

Video conferencing

v–x Mbps

Online gaming

5–25 Mbps

Smart home devices

1-x Mbps

The amount of bandwidth whatsoever online action can apply depends on a few factors. Checking social media could hateful a brief await on Twitter, or information technology could be endlessly scrolling through TikTok (which would use more bandwidth).

As well, video streaming resolution affects how much internet speed you use—standard definition Netflix has a minimum requirement of only 3 Mbps, but streaming in 4K could easily use upwards 25 Mbps.

If you lot have multiple connections going at the same time, you also desire to make sure you have plenty bandwidth for every connection to run smoothly simultaneously—otherwise your network volition slow down when multiple people get online.

For example, if y'all'd potentially have a smart Tv set streaming Netflix, a smartphone scrolling through Instagram, and a laptop looking upward the all-time takeout in your area at the aforementioned time, xx–30 Mbps would piece of work. That's five–25 Mbps for streaming, iii–10 Mbps for Instagram, and iii–5 Mbps for spider web browsing.

Giving yourself a bit of wiggle room isn't going to hurt either. In our opinion, it's better to have a piddling extra bandwidth than to go stuck with a petty less than y'all regularly need.

Check every internet programme in your surface area to detect the speeds you need.

This helpful video from Xfinity can help y'all visualize the bandwidth requirements for dissimilar tasks similar checking your e-mail, streaming, and making video calls.

Common internet speeds

Even though every internet provider has its own range of internet plans, there are a few common speed ranges you might notice as you shop.

25 Mbps—Good for about 2 people and upward to v devices, depending on what you practice with them. With 25 Mbps, you lot could stream ane show in 4K if there are no other internet connections.

50 Mbps—Good for 2–4 people and v–seven devices. A speed of 50 Mbps tin handle two–three video streams plus some actress online activity.

100 Mbps—Good for 4–6 people and up to 10 devices. Most families would exist amply covered with a 100 Mbps internet connexion.

200–500 Mbps—Good for large families with several connected devices where everyone wants to picket a different movie or show at the same time.

ane,000 Mbps—This is usually the fastest residential internet speed available, and it'southward good if you rely on incredibly fast net speeds for online gaming, your job, or but because you lot desire the best of the best.

Internet speeds from our favorite providers

Company

Price range

Download speeds

Acquire more

Xfinity Xfinity

$19.99–$83.95/mo.* 50–ane,200 Mbps

ATT AT&T

$55.00–$eighty.00/mo.** 25–940 Mbps

Spectrum Spectrum

$49.99–$89.99/mo.*** 200–1,000 Mbps

Cox Cox

$29.99–$109.99/mo.**** 25–one,000 Mbps

Information as of 3/x/2022.

*Excludes Xfinity Gigabit Pro and Gigabit X3 plans. For the first 12 months with a 1-twelvemonth agreement.
**Excludes AT&T Cyberspace 2000 and AT&T Cyberspace 5000 plans. For 12 mos., plus taxes & equip fee. $10/mo. equip. fee applies. Incl. 1TB data/mo.; overage charges apply. Ltd avail./areas.
***For the starting time 12 months.
****For the first 12 months with a ane-year agreement.

Upload speed and download speed

For most of this article, nosotros've been talking nearly download speeds—the speeds that determine how fast you can receive information from the internet. But upload speed—the speed at which y'all tin transport data to the internet—is also of import.

Many internet providers advertise download speeds but keep upload speeds a little more hidden because they can be much slower than download speeds. That's fine for almost because yous don't unremarkably transport as much to the internet as you get from it.

But for people who upload a lot of files, photos, or YouTube videos for piece of work—or households where there are multiple video calls going on at the same time—y'all'll want to make sure your upload bandwidth tin keep upwardly.

Internet providers usually requite you 10% of your download speed every bit your upload speed. And so if your internet programme says 100 Mbps, your upload speed would exist 10 Mbps.

The exception to these asymmetrical speeds is unremarkably fiber internet, which tends to exist more generous with upload bandwidth than other types of internet. With a fiber cyberspace connection, you would usually get as fast upload and download speeds.

How internet blazon affects speeds

Different types of internet connections tin touch on your speeds in a few different ways, mainly in speed or altitude limitations, network congestion, or loftier latency. Let's go through the master types of internet and how they touch speeds:

Fiber internet is the fastest blazon of net currently available. Notably, cobweb internet connections requite you much faster upload speeds than other types of net. Examples of cobweb net providers are Google Cobweb, Verizon Fios, and CenturyLink Cobweb.

Cable internet is besides a fast connection type with acme speeds upwards to ane,000 Mbps. It doesn't have symmetric upload speeds, and cable connections tin can tiresome down when a lot of people in a neighborhood are on the same network at the same fourth dimension. A few notable cable providers are Xfinity, Spectrum, and Cox.

DSL internet can handle top speeds around 100 Mbps, but information technology usually performs slower than that because the wires conveying your internet data are older and more decumbent to interference over long distances. Examples of some DSL cyberspace companies are CenturyLink and Frontier.

Satellite internet is unremarkably the slowest blazon of cyberspace due to its high latency. Think well-nigh it: all the information you lot ship and receive has to get to space and back. Satellite internet providers are HughesNet and Viasat (and soon to be Starlink).

Frequently asked questions well-nigh internet speed

What is latency?

Latency is the time it takes for whatsoever data—like a word file, a YouTube video, or an email—to get from its original source to its destination. If your latency is high, information technology means data is taking longer to transfer from the spider web to your telephone or computer.

Y'all can reduce latency past moving closer to your router or finding an optimal location for your router. Sometimes, restarting your router can besides be helpful. If your router is onetime, you might fifty-fifty need to supercede it to solve latency issues.

What blazon of internet is fastest?

Fiber internet like Google Fiber and Verizon Fios is the fastest internet type on the market. Fiber isn't available in every expanse though, so you lot might have to settle for cablevision internet. Luckily, cablevision internet is still pretty speedy compared to DSL cyberspace and satellite internet.

How practice I test my net speed?

If yous're paying for fast cyberspace, but yous nonetheless go a lot of lag and buffer when yous game online or stream video, make sure you lot're getting your money's worth using this handy internet speed test.

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Rebecca Armstrong

Written past

Rebecca Armstrong

Rebecca is a natural techie and the friend y'all plow to when your Wi-Fi randomly stops working. Since graduating from the University of Evansville with a caste in creative writing, Rebecca has leveraged her tech savvy to write hundreds of data-driven tech production and service reviews. In addition to HighSpeedInternet.com, her work has been featured on Top X Reviews, MacSources, Windows Fundamental, Android Fundamental, All-time Visitor, TechnoFAQ and iMore.