Web surfing, email, social networking, moderate videoĪll of the above plus sharing large files and live streaming video.Īnother broadband expert explained to Tom’s Guide that the more bandwidth you have, the better - but only up to a point.Ĭhristopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis, said a fast data rate will ensure you have enough bandwidth when you really need it. 'Similarly, upload speeds are critical for people working remotely from home, as upload speeds would impact things like screen sharing and online conference calls.' 'This depends more on the applications being used (streaming is largely a downstream application), but as users start doing more things like video calls and movie sharing, upload also becomes very important,' Lavoie told Tom's Guide.

'To select the best services or package for your usage, you must understand your bandwidth needs,' said Lincoln Lavoie, a senior engineer of broadband technologies at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory. See our guide on how to make Wi-Fi faster for some quick tips or consider upgrading your router.Īlthough your ISP may be telling you to get a faster and more expensive plan, you may actually be paying more than you need to. Sometimes the problem isn’t with your ISP but with your home network instead. By using one of the best speed test apps, you can check your internet connection speed to determine whether you’re really getting the bandwidth you’re paying for.

If they’re available where you live, gigabit-speed internet plans are the best you can get for home connections right now though some ISPs have begun rolling out multi-gig plans but they are still quite expensive. Those who use a lot of data will want faster speeds and more bandwidth. Consider gigabit (1,000 Mbps) speeds, if available.This speed should work for more data-hungry households. If you plan on streaming 4K video content and have multiple devices connected to your network at the same time, you should seriously consider investing in a plan that can provide faster download speeds, such as 200 Mbps. Multiple devices demand more bandwidth.The same holds true for other streaming services as well as for game-streaming services like Twitch. However, you’ll want even faster speeds if you plan to connect several devices at once. Netflix says you need 5 Mbps to stream full HD content and a data rate of 25 Mbps (megabits per second) for 4K Ultra HD content.What internet speed do I need? Quick tips To see if you really need to pay a lot more for faster connectivity, Tom’s Guide asked broadband experts and staffers at the top ISPs and this what we found.

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