What bandwidth should i have

The person added that the "average family" shouldn't pay for "anything beyond 20 x 5. Another broadband expert told Tom's Guide that the more bandwidth you have, the better, up to a point. Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis, said this will ensure you have enough bandwidth when you really need it — for example, if you have a big file to upload or you're doing sophisticated work on your network.

Gigabit speed offers 1, Mbps, an exponential increase over the 20 to Mbps plans that are generally considered high-speed broadband. See our article What is Gig-Speed Internet? However, "anything over 10 Gbps to a home user is pretty likely overkill," Mitchell said. A gig everywhere should be a goal — not because people will max it out, but because it will ensure everyone can do what they want without worrying about the network being the bottleneck.

As more people shift to streaming for their TV and movie watching needs, bandwidth requirements become a bigger issue. If you want to stream 4K content to get the best picture for your 4K smart TV, you'll need a connection of at least 25 Mbps. Lower resolution content is less demanding, but even streaming p HD video will require a 10 Mbps plan for smooth performance.

And that's all assuming you only stream to one device at a time. If there's more than one TV in your home, or you want to watch in the living room while someone else watches on a laptop in the kitchen, the bandwidth needs grow accordingly. Smart home devices also bring new demand for bandwidth. It only takes a few devices, like a smart thermostat, a smart speaker and a smart lock, to start having an impact on your home's connectivity speeds, so don't forget to factor those into your thinking when you consider how many devices are in use in your home.

Most experts recommend adding an extra 5 Mbps to your plan for every 10 smart devices, though some products, like cameras, will require much more. Though there's debate over how much internet speed you need, it's clear that ISPs benefit from your desire for faster internet speeds. But they can also provide some insight into how much speed you really need by listing how many devices can connect to the network at any given time.

If you listen to the above engineer, you can probably get away with the company's cheapest package, which offers download speeds of up to Mbps. According to the company, that should be enough to accommodate up to eight devices simultaneously connecting to the internet.

In many cases, choosing your internet connection speed means weighing how much you're hoping to get versus how much you're willing to pay.

But you need to be ready for the possibility that you won't get what you want. Most ISPs offer internet packages with an important caveat: "up to. Network performance is determined by more than just how much bandwidth you have available. There are also factors like latency , jitter, and packet loss that could be contributing to less-than-desirable performance in any given network.

Some other elements at play that can cause sluggish internet include old hardware, viruses, browser add-ons, and a weak Wi-Fi connection. There are several ways to monitor network traffic. For instance, you can use your router or a third-party application.

Your ISP website might provide bandwidth monitoring as well. Netflix offers four data usage settings: Low : up to 0. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.

Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Tim Fisher. VP and General Manager, Lifewire. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Updated on September 09, Michael Barton Heine Jr. Lifewire Technology Review Board Member. Article reviewed on Apr 16, Hialeah Spring Austin Nashville San Francisco Dallas Baton Rouge Mesa In many cases, these services are automatically enabled on new phones or tablets and may be running quietly in the background.

If these services are using much or all of the available bandwidth, it can cause slow page loads, buffering while watching movies or increased latency in online games. The bandwidth needs of internet users have consistently grown since the early days of the internet with video and gaming being two of the largest drivers of higher bandwidth. While as little as Mbps may be sufficient bandwidth in many cases today, in five years nearly 40 Mbps will likely be required to provide a similar experience.

In 10 years, this is likely to grow to a staggering Mbps. These growth trends are more likely in households that rely on streaming video services, or that have teens or others who are early adopters of new technologies. While it seems nearly impossible to believe, this rate of growth has been observed since the early days of the internet. These articles miss the point slightly by neglecting this growth factor.

While the true penetration of high-speed internet remains a contentious topic, the simple fact is that there is a constant trend toward higher bandwidth services. Streaming video services have growing catalogs of 4K video content.