How to select the Right Internet Speed?

These days, internet service providers offer a variety of internet speeds, ranging from a few megabits per second (Mbps) to one or two gigabits per second (Gbps). While faster speeds are generally preferable, do typical offices, households, or individuals truly require the fastest internet on the market? What are the actual requirements for the most common internet usage scenarios?

Consider an average household with four members – two adults and two children. The parents might use the internet for work, involving activities like remote desktop usage, downloading work materials, and sending emails. Meanwhile, the children could utilize the internet for school-related tasks, such as research. Additionally, everyone in the household might use the internet for entertainment purposes, such as watching movies, listening to music, staying connected with friends and family, reading news, online shopping, or playing games. Each of these activities consumes a certain amount of internet bandwidth. Let’s explore the necessary internet speed to meet the needs of all four individuals.

Video streaming

For those who want to watch films or videos, the easiest way nowadays is to visit a streaming platform and watch content online. Various platforms, including Netflix, YouTube, Apple TV, Disney Plus, or Amazon Prime, have recommended minimum speeds for different video streaming qualities:

Listening to music

Listening to music is popular on video streaming platforms as well, where users can listen to music along with watching video clips. However, there are also dedicated music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or Deezer. Streaming audio alone requires less internet speed compared to streaming video. Higher quality audio may need around 320 kbps (0.3 Mbps), while lower quality audio can be as low as 24 kbps (0.024 Mbps).

Website browsing

Most website developers strive to minimize the size of their websites to enhance user experience. Users expect fast website loading and minimal data usage, especially on limited internet connections. The internet speed requirements for basic website browsing are consequently quite low. The average website size is approximately 2.2 MB, meaning that theoretically, users need an internet speed of just 17.6 Mbps to load a site in one second.

Other activities, such as online gaming or messaging, transmit minimal amounts of data. For gaming, response time is more critical than fast internet speed, and it depends more on the type of internet connection than the speed itself.

Conclusion

Let’s sum up all the previously mentioned speed requirements:

For a typical household, it may not be worth paying for the highest internet speed. Internet speeds between 50 and 100 Mbps are usually sufficient. For a small office, even less may be needed, as multimedia content streaming is not typically expected in work-related tasks. Of course, individual needs and internet usage patterns vary. If you are uncertain about the optimal speed for your needs, feel free to seek assistance from our experts at Airwaynet Network.