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From connecting our devices to unsurmountable resources to powering off our lights and monitoring our homes while we’re away, the internet is essential to our day-to-day. You may not have thought about internet connectivity speed if you’re not a gamer or digital video creator. However, internet connectivity issues can often be solved by understanding bandwidth speed and how it applies to your device usage.
What is Internet Speed?
Simply put, internet speed is the amount of time it takes for data to transfer from a computer server to your device. So, suppose you’re trying to watch a video on YouTube. In that case, the quality of video playback you experience depends on the speed at which your internet allows the server at YouTube to transfer the necessary information to the device you are using. Internet providers offer different packages with varying speeds for downloading and uploading information.
Bandwidth Speeds Explained
Measured in megabytes per second (Mbps), bandwidth speeds are broken into two categories; upload and download.
- Download Speed – The amount of time measured in Mbps it will take to receive information from the internet source’s server.
- Upload Speed – The amount of time in Mbps it takes to send information to another server. i.e., add a photo to Facebook or a video to YouTube.
Generally, download speeds are offered at a much higher Mbps rate than upload speeds. It is because opening just one webpage requires a lot of information to be transferred and interpreted by your device, whereas uploading a picture or sending an email only requires the transfer of smaller, less-intricate files. Because of this, the main concern in purchasing an internet subscription is download speed.
Most internet providers start their internet packages at speeds around 20 Mbps, but some offer lesser Mbps rates on their basic packages. That is why paying attention to internet bandwidth speed is crucial. Not all basic packages are equal.
How Much Speed Do You Need?
If you’re struggling with lagging internet, chances are internet service speed is to blame. A typical, basic-user household can generally get by with a 10 Mbps download for each user or device. So, if you don’t use internet calling, don’t have smart household products, and aren’t a serious gamer, three individuals could get by on a 30 Mbps service.
That’s just the basic necessity, though. Add in a smart refrigerator, home assistant, chime doorbell, Wi-Fi light bulbs, smartwatch, etc., and you need more than 30 Mbps. That’s because smart devices are constantly downloading data. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the necessity for increased bandwidth speed when buying those devices, but you’ll have all kinds of problems if you don’t have enough speed to run all of them.
Beyond Basic Internet
If you have a lot of smart devices or plan to do some gaming, it is recommended that you have at least a 100 Mbps download speed to operate more than five devices efficiently. According to Security, Electronics, and Networks News, you should add 5 Mbps for each device not using a camera and 10 Mbps for each device using a camera. So, suppose you wanted to figure out how much speed you need to operate efficiently. In that case, you could consider allotting 10 Mbps per user and either 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps per device (depending on the picture or video capabilities of the device).
To give you an idea of how much data different internet functions require, here’s a list of recommended connection speeds for different applications as posted by Cnet.com.
* Email: 1 Mbps
* Web browsing: 5 – 10 Mbps
* Social media: 10 Mbps
* Video calling: 10- 20 Mbps
* HD streaming: 10 – 20 Mbps
* Online gaming: 25 – 35 Mbps
* 4K streaming: 35 Mbps
So, figuring sufficient bandwidth speed should account for users, devices, and functions in order to work as intended. Click to check your current internet bandwidth. Speed takes you where you want to go, both on the road and in the virtual world. Knowing how fast you need to go to get there makes or breaks the ride.