How many mbps should i get

Data caps. Download speeds. Transfers data to your home for activities like streaming, shopping and browsing social media. Mbps Megabits per second. A unit of measurement used to indicate download and upload speeds. Upload speeds. Transfer data from your home for activities like video calls, uploading large files, working on online documents and live gaming.

Get the latest internet, streaming, wireless, TV and home security news directly to your inbox. Blog menu: General internet speed recommendations Internet speeds for streaming Internet speeds for online gaming Internet speeds for working from home Internet speed FAQs. Your speed test results:. Download Speeds. Upload Speeds. Need more for the price?

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Internet speed classifications: What counts as fast internet? David Anders — 6 min read. Advertised vs. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for internet news and promos. Sign me up By subscribing, you agree to receive Allconnect newsletter and promotional emails. Thanks for subscribing! Thanks for signing up. These days, with so many people working from home, a lot of us are using more internet than we're used to. However, that isn't the case for everyone, which you'll want to keep in mind as you're shopping for an internet plan.

If you work from home, stream lots of high-resolution videos or regularly play games online, you'll likely need more internet speed than someone who casually goes on social media platforms and gets their TV from a cable provider. Different activities require different internet capabilities -- here's a small chart to help give you an idea:. Another important factor to consider in your search for the ideal internet speed is how many users and devices are on your network in a given day. Your household may only consist of one or two people, but it could be hosting 10 to 15 devices laptops, cellphones, gaming consoles, smart TVs, smart home gadgets, you name it.

If you're using these devices consistently, then you'll want to ensure your internet speed has the bandwidth to cover them all. Video is often the biggest bandwidth hog, so aim for an internet plan that can accommodate your viewing habits. If it's applicable, think of the times you've streamed Netflix or taken a video call from Mom, then imagine everything else that could have been happening on your network at the same time and use the chart above as a rough guide.

For instance, if you live on your own and like to tweet about your favorite show on your phone while you stream it in 4K on your TV, you'd want at least 35Mbps for smooth playback and another 10Mbps to keep up on Twitter. Sounds like a 50Mbps internet plan might be close to your sweet spot.

As you're considering speeds, it's also important to understand the difference between upload and download speeds. The difference is simple -- upload speeds tell you how fast you can send data out to the internet, while download speeds tell you how fast you can pull data from the internet. In practice, speeds vary depending on the source of the data, and other factors. More devices than you might think. Many of us switch from cellular service to home WiFi when using our smartphones in the house.

You may also have multiple laptops, smart TVs, smart speakers, smart thermostats, video doorbells, gaming consoles, and tablets. All those devices share the same bandwidth when they connect to the internet.

Upload speeds matter, too. Until recently, most consumers only had to worry about download speeds, or how fast videos and web pages arrived in their homes. Recently, upload speeds have become more important because they affect video calls, including both teleconferencing calls with work and video chats with family and friends.

Most internet plans from cable and DSL providers offer upload speeds that are only a fraction of their download speeds; a 25 Mbps plan might have an upload speed of just 5 Mbps. Upload speeds also matter if you post a lot of YouTube or TikTok videos. With slower speeds, your videos will go through, but it will take longer. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

No one wants slow internet, but faster speeds can quickly get expensive. You'll want to find a sweet spot between "still buffering" and "Comcast costs how much? Generally speaking, bandwidth is the maximum rate at which you can download data from the internet to your computer. Think about bandwidth like a water hose. Say you need to fill a gallon tank. If your garden hose puts out only 5 gallons of water per minute, you'll be waiting 20 minutes to fill the tank.

But a huge firehose that puts out a gallon of water every second will fill the tank in less than two minutes. Bandwidth is like the size of the hose.

The larger it is, the more data you can pull down in a given time. Bandwidth is measured in bits per second. Note that bits are different than bytes, the common measure of file size. One byte equals 8 bits, so 1 megabyte MB equals 8 megabits.