# How fast of internet connection do I need? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449 "2017-03-17T23:51:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/21 "2017-03-18T22:23:18Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > If anyone needs faster than 24-25mbps, I haven’t seen a good case for it. > [@markn\_1](#): > > There are certainly valid reasons to get a high bandwidth plan. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Of course there are. lolwut ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/22 "2017-03-18T23:21:42Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > lolwut The discussion was about home use. Bringing in business/IT needs changes the question. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/23 "2017-03-18T23:25:22Z")
I use Virgin in the UK and find the 50mbps fine for all my needs, ie streaming, gaming, downloading, etc. I had considered upgrading to the 200mbps package but a friend told me not to bother. Most sites couldn’t handle anywhere near that speed anyway and unless I regularly uploaded masses of data (I don’t) and was a really serious gamer with a cutting-edge PC (I’m not) the change wouldn’t be noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/24 "2017-03-18T23:33:22Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Most sites couldn’t handle anywhere near that speed anyway… Which is key to the issue. Besides the inherent bandwidth needs for streaming (modest, 3GB per stream) and everything less demanding, burst speeds for downloading are far more likely to be limited upstream to the source server than by the last leg’s speed. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/25 "2017-03-19T01:13:54Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The discussion was about home use. Bringing in business/IT needs changes the question. That doesn’t change the question. Whether you’re downloading a file for work, or downloading it for recreation, your time is valuable, is it not? Why are you making a distinction? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/26 "2017-03-19T11:41:58Z")
Another place where high bandwidth might be worthwhile is if you have a large family, and the different members are routinely doing different high-bandwidth things like streaming at the same time. If Mom is binge-watching the latest season of Game of Thrones, Dad is livestreaming the golf tournament, Son is facetiming his friend who moved across the country, and Daughter is building up her anime collection, all at once, the bandwidth is going to add up. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/27 "2017-03-19T17:00:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Another place where high bandwidth might be worthwhile is if you have a large family, and the different members are routinely doing different high-bandwidth things like streaming at the same time. If Mom is binge-watching the latest season of Game of Thrones, Dad is livestreaming the golf tournament, Son is facetiming his friend who moved across the country, and Daughter is building up her anime collection, all at once, the bandwidth is going to add up. Do the math, as outlined above. You’re still not up to more than 12-15mbps with all that. 4K/UHD will slowly change the equation, but for the foreseeable future, there are very few households that need more than the 24-25mpbs tier. Save the money unless Junior goes on house-destroying rages because his games take two hours to download. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/28 "2017-03-19T17:16:17Z")
Yeah, only the anime download would potentially push the total bandwidth up above 15 mbps. Nevertheless, for me, the difference between a 25 mbps plan and a 100 mbps plan was less than $10 per month. Even if I weren’t downloading large amounts of data for work, it would probably be worth the cost of a couple of cups of coffee for the additional bandwidth, in the occasional situation when it’s helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/29 "2017-03-19T17:33:15Z")
It is all relative to cost, of course. I’ve been evaluating internet options in dozens of towns for a project and the variation is enormous - from two slow Comcast options plus DSL to three providers with 200mbps options. Pricing varies accordingly, even for Comcast. (Cable is installed and regulated town to town, for those who don’t know - there are not many trans-municipality operating areas.) In places where 10mbps is $30, 25 is $50 and 100 or up is $80, it’s a more considered choice than if the options are 25-30 for $40 and 100 for $50. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/30 "2017-03-20T04:22:32Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > I’m getting ready to drop Comcast, because they are shit. I am currently using them for cable, internet and phone. I will be dropping them for everything. My question is, what internet speed do I need to watch something like PlayStation Vue on 2 tvs and surf the web on 2 laptops? > Thanks I’d say 25 or 30Mb/s should be plenty for most homes with several simultaneous users. I dumped Comcast years ago when Verizon FIOS was available. It wasn’t about speed, it was the horrible Comcast service that was the issue. I couldn’t wait to sign up for Verizon FIOS. It’s been years now, and I couldn’t be happier with their service and customer service. With Comcast when there would be an internet outage, they refused to issue a request to reboot their routers because they didn’t get enough complaints from customers. Customer service at ComCast actually told me contact my neighbors who also have Comcast to ask them to call in to report the internet outage so they could justify getting it fixed. I’m not joking, I was without the internet for over 3 days before of this and an hour before the tech was to show up, they rebooted their router for the area and it started working again. I confirmed that by talking to Comcast customer support. So, even if the internet speed was slower (not likely) than Comcast your life will be better without them! [Here’s a story of how bad their customer service at Comcast is](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html). ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/31 "2017-03-20T10:53:27Z")
If you’re watching streaming video in a linear fashion from beginning to end, then you just need enough bandwidth to stream the video. But if you’re in the habit of skipping to random places in the video, the additional bandwidth really helps in reducing the lag between when you click and when it’s buffered enough to play. It’s a minor thing but noticeable once you’re on a beefy connection. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/32 "2017-03-20T14:35:39Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > If you’re watching streaming video in a linear fashion from beginning to end, then you just need enough bandwidth to stream the video. But if you’re in the habit of skipping to random places in the video, the additional bandwidth really helps in reducing the lag between when you click and when it’s buffered enough to play. It’s a minor thing but noticeable once you’re on a beefy connection. So you’re ripping along in GoT at 3mbps, and 20+mbps headroom isn’t enough to keep skipping back for another look at Danaeysysise’s boobs? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/33 "2017-03-21T05:54:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There are two different things folks can mean by “internet speed”. Latency (the time for a signal to get from one end to the other and back, also called lag) is critical for most online gaming, but is nearly irrelevant for movies. On the other hand, bandwidth (the rate at which you can get data) is essential for movies, but usually not a big deal for most games. And different services can have very different results: For instance, satellite internet can get you plenty of bandwidth (if you pay for it), but always has lousy latency. Fair enough, but no one sells low latency service do they? The new thing I found is GB/month DL limits. For phones this is common but for home usage? It’s almost like corporations like to get as much money from us as they can! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/34 "2017-03-21T14:41:31Z")
Isn’t the wireless router (and connected devices) going to be a bottleneck for upload/download speeds anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/35 "2017-03-21T14:51:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Isn’t the wireless router (and connected devices) going to be a bottleneck for upload/download speeds anyway? It can be but gigabit wireless routers are somewhat common these days. Those have the capability of outpacing all but the very fastest connections as long as the wireless router is relatively close to the devices. Speed can drop off for devices that are further away but range extenders can help with that. You do have a point though. Speed is only as good as the weakest link. If you hook a 200mbps internet connection up to an older router, you aren’t going to get the speed benefits because the wireless router will be a bottleneck. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/36 "2017-03-27T23:21:45Z")
The “gotcha” is that most ISPs don’t offer symmetrical down/up)speeds. If you have 100 mbps (down) / 10 mbps (up) and upload large files (e.g. to the Cloud), your download speed will slow in direct proportion to the upload (e.g. upload files at 5mpbs and your download will drop to 50mbps) eventually coming to a stop when you’ve saturated your upload limit. ---
**Author:** ![Chunkylord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Chunkylord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chunkylord)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/37 "2017-03-28T01:01:58Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > The “gotcha” is that most ISPs don’t offer symmetrical down/up)speeds. If you have 100 mbps (down) / 10 mbps (up) and upload large files (e.g. to the Cloud), your download speed will slow in direct proportion to the upload (e.g. upload files at 5mpbs and your download will drop to 50mbps) eventually coming to a stop when you’ve saturated your upload limit. Wait what. That explains a lot for me if true, but it also seems like a kind of arbitrary sorta thing to throttle speeds like that. I’m guessing it’s more of a policy than it is a technical limitation. Sent from my ZUK Z2121 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/38 "2017-03-28T01:56:00Z")
I agree Comcast customer service is dodgy at best, but other than crappy DSL or satellite they are my fastest option where I live (on the very edge of Comcast’s service and across the river from Time Warner). I pay $90 for 100/mbs down and unlimited landline phone. I use a Firestick or Netflix or internet streams for TV. My sons and I are all gamers/heavy streamers so it works well for us. Ookla speed test results are almost always about 115-125/down and 30-40 up with a latency around 30ms. It’s plenty fast. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/39 "2017-03-28T02:51:58Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > The “gotcha” is that most ISPs don’t offer symmetrical down/up)speeds. If you have 100 mbps (down) / 10 mbps (up) and upload large files (e.g. to the Cloud), your download speed will slow in direct proportion to the upload (e.g. upload files at 5mpbs and your download will drop to 50mbps) eventually coming to a stop when you’ve saturated your upload limit. That’s not true at all. When your upload rate approaches 95%+ of your limit, your downloads start being affected as acknowledgement packets start struggling to get through but there’s no networking situation I’ve ever encountered where uploading at 5Mbps will throttle your download to 50Mbps on a 100/10 connection. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449/40 "2017-03-28T05:36:46Z")
It may be my ISP (Time Warner) throttling my speeds, but the more I upload, the slower my download. I had to switch from 100/10 to 200/20 (was on 300/50) because at 100/10 my downloading speed dropped to Kbps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-of-internet-connection-do-i-need/782449.md?page=3)