{"id":442812,"date":"2022-05-06T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need\/"},"modified":"2022-05-06T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T11:00:00","slug":"how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need\/","title":{"rendered":"#How Much Download Speed Do You Really Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a327e43beef8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a327e43beef8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need\/#%E2%80%9CHow_Much_Download_Speed_Do_You_Really_Need%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How Much Download Speed Do You Really Need?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need\/#How_Much_Bandwith_Common_Activities_Require\" >How Much Bandwith Common Activities Require<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need\/#Calculating_Your_Households_Bandwidth_Needs\" >Calculating Your Household\u2019s Bandwidth Needs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-much-download-speed-do-you-really-need\/#High_Speeds_Only_Benefit_Sustained_Downloads\" >High Speeds Only Benefit Sustained Downloads<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_Much_Download_Speed_Do_You_Really_Need%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How Much Download Speed Do You Really Need?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-799833 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DownloadSpeed1.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DownloadSpeed1.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DownloadSpeed1.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A person using a laptop while sitting on their couch.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/smiling-bearded-african-man-working-home-562748560\" data-credittext=\"SFIO CRACHO\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/smiling-bearded-african-man-working-home-562748560\">SFIO CRACHO\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Your local internet service provider (ISP) likely has a variety of packages ranging from budget options to the fastest speeds available in the region. But how much <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">download<\/a> speed do you actually need?<\/p>\n<p>To get to the bottom of how much download speed you actually need from your ISP, let\u2019s look at what common internet activities require, how to calculate what your household needs, and the times when having the fastest speed available actually provides some benefit.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Much_Bandwith_Common_Activities_Require\"><\/span>How Much Bandwith Common Activities Require<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>One thing we\u2019ve noticed when talking to various friends, family members, and neighbors, is how frequently mismatched their internet plan is with the internet activities they\u2019re actually engaging in.<\/p>\n<p>For example, just the other day, I discovered that one of my elderly neighbors, who uses the internet for little more than <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> to keep up with family and some light YouTube browsing, was paying for a gigabit fiber connection.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the family right next door, who spent the last two years working from home, was using a slow DSL connection a mere fraction-of-a-fraction the speed of the elderly neighbor\u2019s fiber line. Worse yet, the slow DSL was even more expensive than the fiber! Clearly, the internet packages are mismatched to their users, but how is the average person supposed to know that?<\/p>\n<p>The easiest way to put how much bandwidth, or download speed, you need into perspective is to consider how much bandwidth various common internet activities require and then consider how big a role those activities play in your internet use.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at some common activities, ranked from the least demanding to the most demanding.<\/p>\n<div class=\"moka-mce-table-wrap\">\n<table class=\"moka-mce-table-styling\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 168px;\" data-skiptableautocorrect=\"true\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\"><strong>Internet Activity<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\"><strong>Minimum Recommended Download Speed<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">Email<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">1 Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\">Music Streaming<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;\">2 Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> Web Browsing<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">3 Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">Social Media<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">5 Mpbs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">Online Gaming<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">5 Mpbs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">Video Conferencing<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">5 Mpbs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">HD Video Streaming<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">5 Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 21px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">4K Video Streaming<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%; height: 21px;\">15 Mbps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>It might come as a surprise to many people, but when you look at individual internet activities they simply aren\u2019t that demanding. Low bandwidth activities like using email (or any other text-based communication like chatting), streaming music, or just browsing around the web searching for things or reading posts on your favorite forum, just don\u2019t use that much bandwidth.<\/p>\n<p>And what you might think is a high bandwidth activity, like streaming video, isn\u2019t actually particularly high bandwidth in the grand scheme of things. You just don\u2019t need that much download speed to stream video. With a gigabit fiber connection, you could likely stream 4K video to TVs in every single room in your house, plus all the handheld devices, and still have some bandwidth to spare.<\/p>\n<p>Further, before we leave this section, it\u2019s important to emphasize that more bandwidth doesn\u2019t make a less-demanding bandwidth activity better.<\/p>\n<p>There is an upper threshold to how much bandwidth any given activity is going to use. If you need 5 Mbps of bandwidth to enjoy a smooth and stutter-free HD video stream, having 500 Mbps doesn\u2019t make for an exponentially improved experience. It\u2019s just extra bandwidth you\u2019re not using\u2014but paying for the privilege of keeping on perpetual standby just in case.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Calculating_Your_Households_Bandwidth_Needs\"><\/span>Calculating Your Household\u2019s Bandwidth Needs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-799839 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DownloadSpeed3.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A family using tablets and laptops in an airy open-concept living space.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/family-time-home-283575098\" data-credittext=\"Monkey Business Images\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/family-time-home-283575098\">Monkey Business Images\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you read that bit above about how a gigabit connection could stream 4K to a dozen or more devices in your home without strain, you might have thought \u201cBut I don\u2019t need to stream 4K to every single room of my house, that\u2019s silly.\u201d And it is silly. For the vast majority of people, purchasing the highest tier of internet service available to them, especially if that\u2019s gigabit speeds, is overkill.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, they should look at how their household actually uses the internet and purchase an internet package that aligns with that.<\/p>\n<p>For a single person household where the regular internet activities are playing around on Instagram while watching Netflix after work, there really isn\u2019t much need for more than 15-20 Mbps of bandwidth\u2014and that assumes the person is watching 4K content and furiously scrolling through Instagram at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>You can adjust that estimate easily by looking at the chart above and guesstimating how often high-demand activities happen simultaneously. Have a larger household where multiple adults or teenagers are all streaming video simultaneously in the evening and, perhaps, gaming at the same time while they binge-watch Netflix? Multiply the number of users in your household by those activities.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"admonishment_tip\"><p><strong>Tip:<\/strong> Want an easy rule of thumb? Multiply the number of users in your household by 25 Mbps to determine your total bandwidth needs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Again, you might be surprised to see that the number, even if you believed your household to be pretty internet hungry, is actually fairly low.<\/p>\n<p>The reality is that despite the shiny allure of getting gigabit internet, most households really only need around 50-100 Mbps of internet bandwidth to meet all their needs<\/p>\n<p>Even a household full of people living in a more-or-less permanent online state likely won\u2019t need more than 200 Mbps to give everybody a satisfactory experience.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a connection in that range (or even faster) and you\u2019re not happy with it, we don\u2019t recommend you call your ISP. We strongly recommend you skip the gigabit internet package and upgrade your router instead.<\/p>\n<p>Once you hit a certain bandwidth tier, the source of your dissatisfaction with your home internet isn\u2019t the available bandwidth it\u2019s your router\u2019s inability to do something useful with it.<\/p>\n<p>If we had to choose, we would always choose a home setup with a modest broadband package but a fantastic Wi-Fi and network setup over the fastest connection paired with a dusty old router.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"High_Speeds_Only_Benefit_Sustained_Downloads\"><\/span>High Speeds Only Benefit Sustained Downloads<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-799837 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DownloadSpeed2.jpg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"281\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For downloading big <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s on-demand, faster internet is always nice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It sure sounds like we\u2019re pretty down on top-tier high-speed internet packages, so you might be left wondering when it\u2019s useful to actually have a gigabit connection.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s certainly one area where having a very fast connection shines: downloading things quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say, for example, that you have a 100 Mbps internet connection and you want to download a new game. Most AAA titles these days are massive and routinely weigh in at 100+ GB. On a 100 Mbps connection, you can expect a sustained download speed of around 12.5 MB\/s. (The reason it\u2019s not 100 MB\/s is that your internet speed is measured in megabits and data storage is measured in megabytes. To translate your advertised internet speed into actual download speed, divide it by 8 to convert bits to bytes.)<\/p>\n<p>So to download a 100GB game, it would take around 2 hours and 15 minutes under ideal conditions. By contrast, on a gigabit connection (1000 Mbps) the maximum sustained download speed would be around 125 MB\/s. Under ideal conditions, it would only take around 13.5 minutes to download your game. Let\u2019s put a big emphasis on the \u201cideal conditions\u201d bit, by the way. Even with a gigabit connection, you\u2019re often bottlenecked by the remote server.<\/p>\n<p>When you scale the size of the download back though, the differences become less significant. To download a 1GB file it would take 8 seconds with a 1000 Mbps connection and 1 minute and 20 seconds with a slower 100 Mbps connection.<\/p>\n<p>Armed with this information you just have to do some simple math and decide if the price difference between the lower tier internet package and the higher tier internet package is worth that time savings for you. If you can get 100 Mbps internet for $25 a month and 1000 Mbps gigabit internet for $100 a month, the difference in cost over a year is $900.<\/p>\n<p>If you download a ton of stuff and you hate waiting, maybe it\u2019s worth that $900 (or whatever it may be) premium to get your games, files, and other downloads <em>right now<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But unless there\u2019s something else incentivizing you to move up to the higher internet tier, like you want more upload speed or you get a \u201cfree\u201d Netflix or HBO Max account with the upgrade, you\u2019re probably better off saving the money and doing something more useful with it like investing it in a better router.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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But how much download speed do you actually need? To get to the bottom of how much download speed you actually&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":442813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/DownloadSpeed1.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-442812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}