How fast does my internet need to be?
Whether it’s for your home or for your business, getting an internet connection fast enough for your demands can save you a lot of headaches. You’re probably thinking: How fast does my internet need to be?
Well, there’s a few important things to keep in mind.
Testing your connection speed
If you’re thinking about whether or not your internet is fast enough, you might want to get some hard numbers, and work out how much faster you need your connection to be. Fortunately, testing your connection is easier than you might be think.
Lots of online tools such as Ookla’s speedtest.net and fast.com from Netflix have been set up to make it as quick and easy as possible- simply searching “internet speed test” gets many options!
It’s also a good idea to keep in mind the difference between broadband and WiFi speed. This will help you identify whether you really need faster broadband of if you actually just need to improve your WiFi coverage around your business or home.
How fast does it need to be?
There are several things to consider when figuring out how fast you need your connection to be. A speed of 25Mbps is generally accepted as a basic internet speed, so that might be a good starting point to consider for a connection at home.
Think about what you need your connection for. To stream on a single device in high definition, you’ll need a speed of above 5Mbps or above. For 4k streaming, you’ll need a speed of 25Mbps at the very least, and you may want a lot more than that if you want to stream on several devices at once.
There are several bandwidth calculators online that you can use to get an approximate figure for how much you need given your location and from other factors. Be careful to avoid ones from an ISP service provider, so that you can get unbiased results!
How many devices?
While 25Mbps may be excellent for one or two people at home, you will have more strain on your network the more devices that are connected to it. To understand how much bandwidth you will need, you will have to consider how many users you will have on your network and what they will all be using it for.
Local businesses with a few employees filesharing won’t need nearly as much speed as an inn that’s providing WiFi to all their clients, or an enormous office with dozens of employees. The latter of which could need an FTTP connection of up to 1Gbps!
Likewise, while it can already take a lot of bandwidth to stream 4k content on a 4k smart TV, your bandwidth needs will grow significantly if you’re streaming elsewhere at the same time. FreeClix can offer a professional opinion on improving your speeds at home or at work. Give us a call at 01603 703340 to find out what we can offer for you!
