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If you're shopping for a new internet service provider, yous may feel overwhelmed with choosing internet speeds, and understandably so. Choosing the correct megabits per second (Mbps) for your internet speed needs is a big deal. The wrong option can leave you flustered when yous don't take enough speed and the spinning "loading" wheel becomes a norm, or when you've got too much speed and you're paying for much more than you demand.

If you're wondering, "how many Mbps practise I demand," nosotros've got you lot covered. In this post, nosotros'll cover common internet uses like streaming TV and music, twitching, gaming and working from home and share expert recommendations on the optimal internet speeds to make certain your internet needs are satisfied.



What'south constitute on this folio:

  • General net speed recommendations
  • Internet speeds for streaming
  • Net speeds for online gaming
  • Cyberspace speeds for working from domicile
  • Internet speed FAQs

General home internet speed recommendations

What net speed exercise I demand?

Expert dwelling internet speeds depend on what you use the net for at habitation. The Federal Communications Committee (FCC) recommends download and upload cyberspace speeds of 12-25 Mbps for families with multiple cyberspace users or for frequent online streaming. This may vary depending on your household's needs and devices.

How fast should my internet be?

The FCC has defined broadband, or fast internet, every bit net with download speeds of at least 25 Mbps and upload speeds of at least 3 Mbps since 2015.  Download speeds of at least 25 Mbps adapt many families' needs, but the best download speeds and upload speeds for you lot depend on how you lot use the internet at dwelling house. More xc% of Allconnect readers who took our internet speed quiz stream Television daily, and more 25% stream Ultra HD daily, which ways fast cyberspace speeds to them are closer to 100 Mbps.

What is the fastest domicile internet speed?

The current fastest home internet speed is 5,000 Mbps, or 5 Gbps, and is offered past AT&T in select areas.

How can I determine my current net speed?

Yous can measure your current internet speed past taking a speed exam on a calculator that'south continued to your dwelling Wi-Fi. Many net speed tests also tell you your ping fourth dimension and differentiate your connection'south upload and download speeds.

Your speed exam results:

Download Speeds

888 Mbps

Upload Speeds

88 Mbps


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Pro Tip: For all-time results, use an Ethernet cord to connect your router or modem directly to your device earlier y'all run the test.

Recommended internet speeds for streaming

How much net speed do I need for streaming?

Depending on what kind of streaming you'll be doing, the internet speed needed might modify. For example, streaming Spotify music will require less speed than streaming videos or shows. In general, to stream most videos in standard definition, you'll need download speeds of at least iii Mbps. You need at to the lowest degree 25 Mbps for 4K streaming video on your reckoner or Ultra Hard disk drive-enabled devices. Some streaming services suggest faster speeds, such equally Fubo TV, which suggests minimum speeds of 40 Mbps.

For Netflix, on the other manus, the minimum internet speed recommended for streaming is 3 Mbps, but recommended speeds vary past the quality y'all want to view.

  • To stream videos in standard definition, at least 3 Mbps is recommended.
  • To stream videos in HD, at least 5 Mbps is recommended.
  • To stream videos in HDR or 4K, at least 25 Mbps is recommended.

In dissimilarity, for the best video quality, Hulu recommends 3 Mbps for on-demand viewing and eight Mbps for Live TV viewing.

For streaming alive Idiot box with DIRECTV Stream, you'll want a minimum internet speed of 2.5 Mbps, yet, you may desire to consider higher speeds based on your device. According to AT&T:

  • To stream videos at home in HD, 8.0 Mbps is recommended per device
  • To stream on a mobile device using data, 150 Kbps to two.v Mbps are recommended for standard-definition streaming, and 2.v to 7.5 Mbps are all-time for loftier-definition

YouTube TV recommends a minimum cyberspace speed of three Mbps, but advises that how much speed you lot need may vary past video quality.

  • To stream videos in standard definition, at least three Mbps is recommended.
  • To stream video on one device in Hard disk drive, at to the lowest degree seven Mbp is recommended.

Recommended net speeds for gaming

You demand minimum speeds of 4-8 Mbps to game online, only for a consistently good gaming experience, 10-25 Mbps tend to be best. As you lot search for the best internet for gaming, keep in mind that download speed isn't the but gene in a adept gaming feel.

Speed is important because it'southward how quickly your device transfers data from the gaming server. However, ping time and latency as well matter.

Bank check your latency

Ping time, or latency, is more than of import for gaming than internet download speeds. A ping fourth dimension of 20 milliseconds or less is great while xx-100 milliseconds will give you a good gaming experience.

Ping time can improve based on your download and upload speeds. However, factors such every bit your local area connexion and cyberspace latency impact your ping time more than than internet speeds.

But, how does 1 become most finding out their ping fourth dimension and are there ways to better it that are in your control? To determine your ping time, run a uncomplicated internet speed test like the one higher up. In the results, yous'll discover download and upload speeds, ping, jitter and loss. If your ping is higher than optimal, here are some things to do to help lower it:

  • Make sure your router firmware is up-to-date.
  • Reduce the number of devices on the network.
  • Make sure there are no motorcar-updates scheduled during your gaming time.
  • Close all background applications and programs.
  • Clear router and modem caches.

Best internet technologies for online gaming

The best internet for gaming is normally cable internet or fiber optic internet since they both provide low-latency internet connections, which means lower ping fourth dimension.

Satellite net tends to have high latency, even with fast download speeds, considering the internet indicate must travel so far between its source (a satellite) and its cease destination (your device).

All-time net for gaming in rural areas

When available, fixed wireless internet is a better option for gaming than satellite in rural areas.

Fixed wireless internet has lower latency than satellite because stock-still wireless internet signals don't travel through the atmosphere. Instead, they travel from a local belfry directly to your dwelling antenna. Fixed wireless internet too offers speeds comparable to cable and DSL net. AT&T is a popular fixed wireless net service provider in rural areas offering speeds ranging from 10 to 25 Mbps.

Avoid satellite internet for real-fourth dimension gaming

Satellite internet does not work well with sports games or shooter games because they crave rapid data response times. Other online games such as online carte games, role-playing games, strategy games or puzzle games tend to work fine with satellite cyberspace.

Do online games block satellite internet users?

Since many people around the globe play sports and first-person shooter games simultaneously, these types of games may block satellite internet users from playing. They block satellite users to prevent people from using lag to their reward and compromising the gaming experience for other players.

How to improve your internet speeds for online gaming

To make your cyberspace faster at home, you could boost your Wi-Fi signal to lower your latency. Resetting or moving your router can boost and stabilize your point. You could also add a Wi-Fi repeater or extender to better internet signals for gaming devices further away from your router.

You can as well shop for a dissimilar high-speed internet service with faster speeds and a potentially more reliable connectedness.

Recommended internet speeds for working from dwelling house

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, working (and learning) from home has become an everyday reality for much of the globe.

According to a survey conducted by 451 Research — a unit of measurement of S&P Global Market place Intelligence — 67% of companies expect work-from-home policies to proceed in the long term. Major companies similar Facebook, Twitter and Slack take all announced plans to let a portion of their employees go along to work from home permanently. With and so much more work taking identify inside the domicile, a fast and reliable internet connectedness — plus a setup that takes advantage of information technology — is more essential than always.

If yous tin stream Netflix, you can utilize Zoom successfully.

The good news is that you probably don't demand to upgrade your internet connection to first working from home. Most work activities have relatively low bandwidth requirements.

Recommended internet speeds for WFH

The best net speed for working from home depends on what kind of work yous do. If you frequently download and upload large files and participate in video meetings, we recommend at least 25 Mbps of download speeds for households with but one person working from abode at a time. Here'due south how much internet speed some of the well-nigh common work apps require:


A word of caution: These numbers look incredibly low compared to the 40 Mbps we recommend for working from home, but apps by and large underestimate how much speed you'll need to apply their products smoothly.

As researchers at San Francisco Country University establish, "speeds below five Mbps are non adequate for 2-way interaction" on Zoom. For glitch-costless video meetings, they recommend at least xx Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds. And if there are other devices connected to your Wi-Fi while you're on a Zoom coming together, you'll need even more.

If you lot're not sure how much speed you demand — or even how much you're currently getting — you can use our speed test and quiz in a higher place to approximate your state of affairs.

How can I heave my internet speed to work from dwelling house?

There are a number of steps you can take to assist become your cyberspace speed upwardly to a comfortable level for working from home. Here'southward how to get the near out of your connection:

  1. Update your router'due south security settings: Wi-Fi leeches are unfortunately a common issue slowing down dwelling house internet speeds, peculiarly if you live in close proximity to your neighbors. We recommend upping your network security by protecting admission to your router with a complex password and WPA2 security.
  2. Optimize your router: You tin can try things like turning off your router'southward entertainment settings, resetting the Request to Transport (RTS) thresholds and changing the router'southward fragmentation and RTS threshold settings.
  3. Use a new Wi-Fi channel: Switching your router from a standard 2.iv GHz Wi-Fi channel to a 5 GHz channel can assistance reduce interference and provide a heave to your internet speeds.
  4. Move your router: One of the to the lowest degree technical but most effective troubleshooting steps you'll find, simply moving your router to a more elevated, clearer spot tin take a dramatic impact on speed.
  5. Use a wired connection: If you can fix your home office next to your modem, running an Ethernet cable straight to your calculator can profoundly meliorate your connection speed and stability.
  6. Reset your router: When in doubt, merely unplug your router and plug it dorsum in. Believe it or not, a hard reset can sometimes fix issues that have been slowing down your connectedness.

If none of these steps increase your speeds enough, you might accept to start spending money to see improved results. Mesh networks use several small routers to spread your Wi-Fi connectedness throughout the habitation and are peculiarly useful in bigger houses. Similarly, Wi-Fi extenders price anywhere from $twenty to $200, and extend your internet to rooms that are blocked due to walls, furniture or spacing issues. Finally, if you've had the aforementioned Wi-Fi router for a while, we recommend replacing it every four years to make sure you lot're getting the most out of your internet connectedness.

Larn more than about boosting your Wi-Fi signal

Prioritize your work connection

If there are other people in the house using the internet during work hours, it tin can exist helpful to keep that traffic carve up. As nosotros mentioned to a higher place, most routers come with both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, which can be split up into ii different networks. In general, the 5 GHz band provides faster speeds, while the 2.4 GHz band has improve range. Dedicating 1 of those bands to piece of work activities and 1 to everything else can help ship your bandwidth where it's needed the near.

Virtually routers likewise accept the power to create a guest network, often with max speed settings that can make sure your bandwidth isn't beingness capped out while you're working. Some routers fifty-fifty have Quality of Service settings, which let you prioritize traffic to specific devices. If working from home looks similar it will be a permanent part of your future, it might exist worth investing in a new router with these features.

Don't forget to secure your abode network

Information technology'due south 1 affair for your personal Instagram account to be hacked. But leaking your employer'south sensitive data due to an unsecured network? That's a much more serious trouble for you and your visitor. Taking steps like encrypting your Wi-Fi signal, updating your router's firmware, and using a VPN (virtual private network) like ExpressVPN is essential to keeping your piece of work life secure.

Larn more virtually securing your net connexion

Net speed FAQs

What is ping?

A ping is a exam that figures out if a server is reachable. The ping is done by sending a information packet to the server to encounter if the data comes dorsum. If then, the server is reachable.

What is ping time?

Ping time is the responsiveness of your connection, or how fast that data package travels to the server and dorsum. Ping time is measured in milliseconds. If your connection doesn't register the data request for a couple of seconds, yous may nonetheless see a lag in your game, file upload, online submission or other activity.

What is latency?

Latency is how fast information transfers between a source and its destination — basically a delay of information communication. For instance, if y'all're in the U.South. playing a game with a server in China, you lot will have a higher latency than someone playing the same game in China.

What is Mbps?

Mbps is how internet speeds are gauged and it means "megabits per second." It measures the bandwidth of an internet connexion — how much data can be transferred each second.

What is the difference betwixt download and upload speeds?

Download speed is how fast your internet connection tin transfer information from a server to you. Download speeds are of import for downloading files, loading a website, streaming a video or streaming music. Upload speed is how fast your internet connexion tin can transfer your data to a server. Upload speeds are important for sending emails, sending files to other people, live video chats and gaming.

No matter what you utilize the internet for at home, we recommend getting slightly faster speeds than Netflix, Skype, online shopping or any other activity requires. Internet speeds often perform slower at dwelling than advertised. Having multiple devices at home volition consume upwardly bandwidth, and a variety of technical factors tin can also dull down your connection.

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Joe Supan

Written by:

Joe Supan

Senior Author, Broadband Content

Joe Supan is a senior writer for Allconnect. He has helped build the proprietary metrics used on Allconnect's review pages, utilizing thousands of data points to help readers navigate these complex decisions. … Read more

Robin Layton

Edited past:

Robin Layton

Editor, Broadband Content

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Source: https://www.allconnect.com/blog/faqs-internet-speeds-what-speed-do-you-need