How internet speed worksĭata transfer speed per second is how internet speed is calculated and measured, in megabits (Mbps). Upload speed will determine how quickly someone hears/sees you during video conferences and how fast it takes to post your videos on TikTok or Youtube. If you or anyone in your household are uploading videos to YouTube or working from home on a regular basis, you might need an internet plan with higher upload speeds.įor example, if you have several devices in your household uploading at once, you should consider plans with 10 Mbps of upload speed or higher.

Most people consider an upload speed of 3 Mbps to be good because it meets the FCC’s minimum requirements. If two people will be streaming simultaneously, keep in mind that you’ll need 50 Mbps or more. If you’re using streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ you should have at least 25 Mbps of download speed available.

However, if you want a more seamless experience, aim for 10 to 20 Mbps of download speed. To use speed as an example, video game console manufacturers suggest a minimum of 3 Mbps of download speed and 0.5 Mbps to 1 Mbps upload speed for your game to run smoothly without any lag or glitches.įor a good experience on an application like Zoom, 1.5 Mbps is recommended. This way, while one person is video-conferencing, another can play an online game or stream a movie without interrupting each other. You should consider having a plan that supplies about 25 Mbps per person in your home. In recent years, with an increase in people working and learning from home, as well as playing online games, fast internet is now anything over 100 Mbps. As a general rule of thumb, though you should keep in mind that family size and internet usage habits can change what’s considered “good” for your specific household. What is a good download speed?Īccording to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), anything above 25 Mbps is considered a good download speed. Some examples include sending emails, playing live video games and using Zoom for video call purposes. While downloading data is more common, there are some online activities that necessitate sending data instead. Upload speed is the rate at which you can send information from your computer to another device or server on the internet. To get an idea of things that affect your download speeds, consider activities like streaming movies on Netflix or downloading large files generally speaking, anything that you have to wait for a little bit before it shows up on your screen requires some form of data transferral. The amount of time it takes to load a webpage or download an attachment depends on your connection speed. Download speed is how fast data can be transferred from the internet to your device.

What is upload vs download speed