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What Is a Good Internet Speed?
An internet speed of 100 Mbps is considered fast enough for most households. When it comes to internet, of course, faster is always better — but that doesn’t mean more speed is always worth paying for, which is why 100 Mbps is a good starting point for shoppers. Let’s take a look at some typical internet speeds and what you can expect to get out of them.
| Internet speed | Good for |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbps |
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| 25 Mbps | All of the above, plus:
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| 100 Mbps | All of the above, plus:
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| 200 Mbps | All of the above, plus:
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| 500 Mbps | All of the above, plus:
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| 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) | All of the above, plus:
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| 2+ Gbps | All of the above, plus:
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Our experts recommend that most shoppers focus on speeds of 100 Mbps and up. For most internet activities, the difference between 10 or 25 Mbps and 100 or 200 Mbps will be very noticeable.
Experts call relatively fast internet “broadband,” and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines broadband as at least 100 Mbps in download speed and at least 20 Mbps in upload speed.
Speeds of 100 or 200 Mbps are good enough in most cases, but they may not feel fast by modern standards. For truly speedy performance, you’ll want to look at options that reach 500 Mbps or more.
What Is the Difference Between Upload and Download Speed?
If you don’t know the difference between upload and download speeds, here is a simple breakdown:
- Download speed measures how quickly your internet connection can retrieve data from the internet.
- Upload speed is how quickly your internet connection can send data over the internet.
For the typical user, download speed matters much more than upload speed. Lots of things use download speed: streaming a movie, for example, or simply loading a website. If your download speed stinks, you’ll notice!
Uploading things happens less often, and it usually involves pretty easy lifting. You don’t need much upload speed to send an email or share a Facebook post, for example.
When you see the advertised speed of an internet plan, what you usually see is the download speed. The upload speed may be listed in the fine print. It’s normal for your upload speed to be around one-tenth your download speed — unless you have a fiber internet connection, which will boast symmetrical speeds (upload speeds that are just as fast as download speeds).
What’s a Good Upload Speed?
The speeds listed in the chart above are all download speeds. But what about upload speeds?
The FCC defines broadband internet as having an upload speed of at least 20 Mbps. That should be enough for most consumers. For the typical household, download speeds are much more important than upload speeds.
Ping and Latency: Does It Matter?
Latency is a measurement of the amount of time it takes for data to be transmitted from one point to another — the lag time between when an action is taken and when it registers on the other end.
“Ping” refers to how long it takes data to get from one place to another and then back again. It gets its name from sonar, the location technology that uses sound and listens for echoes. It’s just a way of measuring latency.
Is latency a real concern when deciding which service provider to choose?
The short answer is that latency will matter most to gamers, where the back-and-forth ping time can mean the difference between winning and losing. In most other cases, it’s less of a concern.
What About Connection Types? Internet Speeds for Fiber, Cable and More
The speed of an internet connection is related, in part, to how that connection works. Those of us who remember the dial-up days know that internet connections used to be relatively slow. The arrival of DSL technology allowed phone-line internet to get a lot faster, and later technologies changed internet infrastructure itself. Cable internet is delivered over many of the same cables we use for cable TV, and fiber internet uses fiber-optic cables that allow for even faster speeds.
| Internet connection type | Typical speeds offered |
|---|---|
| DSL | 10 to 150 Mbps |
| Cable | 50 Mbps to 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) |
| Fiber | 500 Mbps to 5 Gbps |
How Many Mbps Do You Need?
Depending on where you live, you may have access to internet connections as fast as 8 Gbps. Do you really need all of that speed? The short answer is probably not. But if you want to figure out exactly how many Mbps you’ll need, you’ll have to think a little bit about how you plan to use the internet. The easiest way to do that is to use the calculator at the top of this page to determine how much internet speed you really need.
When it comes to calculating your internet speed needs, there are two big things to consider.
The first is how you will use your internet. For many households, that includes streaming on-demand video or live TV. That sort of thing will require faster internet than you’d need to simply check your email or update your Facebook status.
The second factor is the size of your household. That’s because your internet speed isn’t just like a speed limit on a highway; it’s also a bit like the size of a water pipe. A pipe that’s a certain width may be fast enough to deliver good water pressure in your shower, but you’d need a bigger pipe to run two showers at the same time. For the same reason, an internet connection that’s fast enough for Netflix may not be fast enough to handle both Netflix and the YouTube videos the kids are watching upstairs.
Not Everyone Needs Gigabit Internet
Internet connections that can reach up to 1 Gbps are called “gigabit” connections. They’re very impressive, and they can be a great fit for large households with heavy internet usage. (If that sounds like you, check out our guide to the best gigabit internet plans.) With that said, not everyone needs a gigabit plan. Even if you plan to stream lots of movies or play online games, you may find that 250 or 500 Mbps is plenty. Try out our internet speed needs calculator to see what plan suits you best.
Best Internet Speeds for Streaming
How much internet speed do you need for streaming video? Streaming companies claim the answer is quite low: Netflix recommends a minimum of 3 Mbps for on-demand streaming in standard definition.
Streaming companies say that 3 Mbps is enough, but you may feel otherwise.
In practice, however, most households will find streaming video at 3 Mbps to be very frustrating. We recommend getting at least 15 to 25 Mbps for basic on-demand streaming.
Your experience will improve if you can get 50 to 100 Mbps. At those speeds, streaming performance will be much more reliable.
Remember: Your total potential speed is split across all of the devices connected to the network. A 25 Mbps plan may be providing only 10 to 15 Mbps on Netflix, depending on how many devices are taking a slice. The larger your household, the more speed you should spring for.
Best Internet Speed for Gaming
As with streaming, it is possible to use a relatively slow internet connection to play games online — but, as with streaming, you may find that you don’t enjoy it much!
Minimum internet speed requirements for gaming are usually 4 to 8 Mbps, but remember that other devices on your network will be vying for a share of that bandwidth too. It’s also important to remember that internet speeds naturally fluctuate, so you won’t always get the fastest speed your plan advertises.
If you’re the only one at home, a 25 Mbps internet plan may work for casual gaming. More competitive gamers will want to spring for 100 Mbps or more, and the best internet plans for gaming will reach 200 Mbps or faster.
How Fast Is 25 Mbps?
In many markets, 25 Mbps internet will be widely available and competitively priced. Is it good enough for your household?
Here are some things you can expect from 25 Mbps:
- Stream Netflix and YouTube at 1080p on one or two devices without buffering
- Play basic online games without lag
- Very fast performance for webpage loading, email, social media and other basic uses
Is 25 Mbps fast?
For a small household that isn’t doing intense streaming on multiple devices or gaming in high resolution, 25 Mbps fast enough. For larger households or more intense uses (such as 4K video streaming, competitive online gaming and hosting livestreams), 25 Mbps may not be enough.
Understanding Internet Speed, Bandwidth and Mbps
Want to know more about how internet speeds really work? Let’s dive into the details.
Speed vs. Bandwidth
Speed and bandwidth are two different ways to measure the same basic thing: how fast data can move across your internet connection.
Think of your internet connection as being like your plumbing. Imagine you have water flowing through a pipe. You can measure how fast the water is moving in miles per hour — that’s the speed. But if you also know how wide the pipe is, you can figure out how much water is moving through it during a given period of time. We may say a pipe can handle a certain number of gallons per minute. That, essentially, is the pipe’s bandwidth.
For most of us, bandwidth is a much more useful piece of information. That’s why, in practice, we almost never talk about actual internet speed. When most of us talk about internet speed, we actually mean bandwidth: how much information we can move in a given period of time, as measured in Mbps or Gbps.
Mbps vs. Gbps
When we talk about internet speed, we use units such as Mbps and Gbps. What do those terms actually mean?
Remember, what we call “internet speed” is actually bandwidth — the amount of stuff we move in a given period of time. It’s not like the miles per hour of the water in your pipes; it’s more like the gallons per second.
When we deal with internet, our gallons become bits of information. Bits are very small, so we group them together. Bits become kilobits and then megabits, just like grams become kilograms or meters become kilometers.
Now we have our “gallons” of information, so we just need our measure of time. That part is simple: We just use seconds. A megabit per second (Mbps) is our measure of bandwidth. For extra-fast speeds, we just go up another level from megabit to gigabit and say gigabits per second (Gbps). One Gbps is about 1,000 Mbps.
Why You’re Not Getting the Speed You’re Paying For
When we talk about internet speed, we typically refer to the speeds listed in plan advertisements. Gigabit plans, for example, advertise up to 1 Gbps. But that “up to” part is very important! In reality, you’ll rarely get internet that’s as fast as what you’re paying for.
Not sure if you’re getting the internet speed you pay for? Use our internet speed test tool to find out for sure.
One reason is that your internet connection is only yours for a short distance. Just like your electrical lines or plumbing, your internet cables quickly link up to larger infrastructure you share with your neighbors. When many people in your area are online, the heavy traffic could slow down your service.
That isn’t the only reason your internet could be slow though. You could need to troubleshoot your Wi-Fi. If your internet seems fast but unreliable, you may need a Wi-Fi extender.
Is Ethernet Faster Than Wi-Fi?
Along with upload speeds, latency and your location, another factor to consider is your Wi-Fi network. The average Wi-Fi speed you experience around your home will generally be anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent slower than the maximum speed you’re paying for.
That’s because, all things being equal, wired Ethernet connections are faster than Wi-Fi networks. If you connect a device to your router with an Ethernet cable, you’ll experience faster internet speeds than you would with a Wi-Fi connection.