While looking for internet plans, you will come across many factors such as type of connection, monthly expense, subscription type, and others. But on top of everything, the first thing that catches the eye is the bandwidth capacity. In simpler words, the bandwidth of your internet connection is basically the speed. It is the rate at which you can upload and download content on the internet every second. A lot of users are usually confused about what internet speed is suitable for their needs. Thus, it becomes even more difficult to find a great plan under a specific budget regarding the bandwidth. In this guide, we are going to talk about internet speed and how it affects your day-to-day internet usage. If you are also wondering what internet speed is suitable for you, make sure that you read our guide until the end. We can assure you that by the time you reach the end of your guide, you will be able to select the best internet plan for your shop, office, or home. But before that, let us try to understand internet speed and what bandwidth can be considered as good or stable considering general usage.
Understanding Internet Speed
If you are not familiar with wired connectivity, or internet connection in general, this part is very important for you. The bandwidth, or internet speed, is basically the amount of data shared over your network per second. It includes both incoming as well as outgoing data and offers the speed mentioned as download and upload speed respectively. However, the download speed of your internet connection is what matters the most. The internet speed is often presented in the “Megabits Per Second” or “Mbps”. When you are browsing the internet, every webpage you visit is first downloaded on your computer browser before it can be displayed on your screen. And when you are playing a video online, the video is first downloaded and cached in your browser. Until it is cached and ready to play, it shows the loading sign which we call buffering. Now, your internet speed plays an important role in this scenario. As you may know, every digital content has a specific size which we measure in “bytes”. Thus, everything you are downloading from the Internet has a size, whether it is in kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes. Thus, the faster your connection can transfer the data, the faster you can get access to the content. If you want a simpler approach to internet speed, simply divide the Mbps rating by 8. This will give you the approximate internet speed in Megabytes per second.
How Much Internet Speed is Good?
Now, the answer to this question might vary based on your usage and requirements. Also, a good internet speed rating can be different for different regions based on the installation charges, connectivity price, monthly expenses, and so on. In general terms, an internet speed of 30 Mbps or above can be considered as good because it allows you to get everything done at a faster rate. Apart from casual usage, you can also use services like YouTube, Twitch, and Netflix at 30 Mbps internet connection at moderate streaming quality. On the other hand, some might consider even less than 30 Mbps connection speed as good if it is stable and does not create connectivity problems every now and then. Another aspect of this spectrum is the upload speed. While 30 Mbps bandwidth is great for download, you probably won’t need a similar rating for upload. If your internet service provider is not offering identical bandwidth for upload, make sure that the upload speed is at least 5 Mbps, if not above. With that, you will easily be able to upload basic content on social media platforms such as images, videos, and audio files without waiting a long time. Here’s a quick comparison of Internet bandwidth and suitable applications for each category.
How Much Internet Speed Can Be Considered Fast?
A fast internet connection is definitely a better choice irrespective of your requirements. Even if you want an internet connection for basic applications, a faster internet connection will help you take care of that pretty quickly. In an official workplace, a faster internet connection also increases productivity. However, what you might call “fast internet” might differ based on your region. In a recent survey of 2021, it has been concluded that the average internet speed of the country is about 99.3 Mbps. It further proves the fact that most of the users are working at 100 Mbps bandwidth level which seems to be sufficient for their usage. Another important parameter here is the upload speed. With a 100 Mbps connection, you will receive at least 40 Mbps of upload speed, if not better. Thus, you won’t have to wait a long time while uploading your files on cloud storage. If your usage still requires faster bandwidth capacity, you can always upgrade your connection. However, the connectivity cost and monthly expenses for a 100+ Mbps connection certainly do not look so good. Unless you are using the internet service for commercial applications, faster than 100 Mbps bandwidth might result in pretty expensive monthly charges and overall higher running costs, making it a bit excessive for domestic purposes.
How Much Internet Speed Do You Need?
Now that you know what is good internet speed and what is fast internet speed, let us try to understand what bandwidth would you actually need. As you can imagine, the bandwidth requirements are different for every individual based on their usage. But, you can get a pretty good idea about your personal bandwidth requirement by considering a few factors mentioned below. While these are general considerations, you can even factor in some of your personal requirements to get an exact idea.
What Are Your Requirements?
This is the most important factor to consider before getting an internet connection. And if you are buying a wired or cable connection for the first time, you need to consider this fact even more carefully to get started with the best internet plan. The bandwidth that you need varies upon how you are going to use the internet connection at your home or office. If you are a professional content creator or streamer, then you need to consider higher bandwidth plans, preferably above 100 Mbps bandwidth. This gives you enough upload speed for live streaming video content to websites like YouTube, Twitch, etc. all the while offering flawless playback at high video resolution. Also, it should be a great option if you have multiple TVs or computers in your house that will be utilizing the connection simultaneously.
How Much Bandwidth is Required for Common Internet Usage?
For example, if you are getting a wired cable connection just for stable internet connectivity, then any bandwidth capacity between 20 to 50 Mbps should be more than enough for you. You will be able to connect multiple devices such as smartphones, laptops, TVs, and other smart appliances to your network and get the advantage of the smart features. On top of that, this bandwidth category is also suitable for casual content streaming as well as web browsing on a daily basis. Common internet usage includes checking emails, browsing websites, and using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on. For that, a 20 to 50 Mbps connection should be enough for a handful of devices. It will save you a lot of monthly expenses down the line while offering a stable connection with no data usage limit.
How Many Devices Are Connected To Your Network?
Another important factor is how many devices you are going to connect to your network. In general, a domestic connection is usually designed for 5 to 6 devices at best. Anything more than that will bottleneck your internet speed, given that all devices are utilizing upload and download speeds. Keep in mind that smart home devices such as smart lights and doorbells do not require excessive data traffic. Thus, these devices can be connected to the network without affecting the internet speed. On the other hand, smart home devices that do hamper the connection speed include smart home speakers, portable video players, Android TV streaming boxes, Smart TVs, and so on. As you can play multimedia files on these devices, they require comparatively larger data traffic and hence, utilize the upload and download speed on your network. Therefore, these are the devices that you should consider carefully before finalizing your internet plan alongside laptops, smartphones, and computers. Home CCTV security systems might also contribute to the list if you are using an NVR-based system with remote access.
Conclusion:
Buying a new internet connection is definitely a challenging task, especially regarding the bandwidth capacity. Before buying a new connection, you need to make sure that the plan you are getting suffices for your requirement and offers reliable experience on a daily basis. If you are not sure, take a look at the comparison table included in our guide to get an idea about suitable internet speed for your usage. If you are still confused, we will suggest you get started with the most basic plan offered by your ISP. The best method to understand your requirement regarding the internet speed is to get started and closely monitor the data usage and performance for a month or so. This way, you won’t have to invest a lot in the beginning and you will always have the option to upgrade your existing plan to meet your needs. Comment * Name * Email * Website
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