What is a Good Residential Internet Speed?
Access to a car and the Internet at home is more significant these days than it has ever been before. We use home internet connection to conduct work video conference calls, watch movies and TV shows, engage in online gaming, control smart home devices, and much more. But what is a good internet service for what can be considered ‘normal’ or average internet usage in a residential home? Having said that, let’s look at some common questions about home internet speeds and the speed you likely require.
Why Internet Speed Matters?
Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that can be transferred at one time in the internet and it defines your internet speed. It regulates the time that is taken to open the webpage, download, watch videos, upload data, and much more. Higher speeds can help you browse the web more smoothly and overall more connections and devices can be made without slower speeds interfering.
Slower internet results in lagging, poor picture quality and intermissions, and other frustrations that are accrued in the use of the internet. While the slow internet speed provides limited and basic experiences like standard definition videos and laggy online games. Also, having enough bandwidth headroom is crucial to your home because as websites and apps become more complex, they will continue to require more headroom.
Typical Speed Tiers
Most of the ISPs that are providing residential internet services including cable, fiber, and DSL companies offer a variety of speed “tiers” where customers can select their preferred download and upload speeds. Download speed defines to what extent you are capable of retrieving information such as web pages or video streams on your home devices from the internet. Upload speed refers to how quickly you can send data like when posting photos or a video call’s content from your devices to the internet.
Here are some standard speed tiers that ISPs usually offer:
- Basic: 10-25 Mbps download and 3-10 Mbps upload
- Fast: Downloader at a rate of 100 – 200 Mbps, up-loader at a rate of 10 – 20 Mbps.
- Gigabit: Up to 500-1000 Mbps download speed and 30-50 Mbps upload speed
The actual speed potential depends on what kind of network infrastructure is used in your area and the service packages that can be obtained. Gigabit fiber or cable plans offer the top internet speed, nonetheless, it is offered to a few neighborhoods only. DSL provides such speeds even at a slower rate because of technical factors.
The speed required can be calculated based on the bandwidth needed, and a general idea of it can be seen from the following table:
But, for what is considered acceptable internet speed for a home Internet user? The best home internet bandwidth varies depending on the habits of the household, how many people are there, and devices they use, and what activities they perform.
Light Use Households
For general use like sending emails, visiting informative websites, and limited streaming, users should be able to comfortably contain themselves with a 10 to 25 Mbps connection. This enables one to browse seamlessly, watch videos at DVD-like qualities, make VoIP calls as well as control basic smart home functionalities. The first tier, allowing one to connect only 1-2 devices at once, may suffice if you are alone or if you have a small household.
Moderate Use Households
Those who have 3-5 daily internet users in the house, or many smart devices, will need speeds between 50-100Mbps. It allows the simultaneous streaming of HD videos on 2-3 devices, fast download and upload of files, multiple web browsing, and additional smart home systems. The internet connection speed at this level may only allow basic games to be played online.
Heavy Use Households
For users who have an extremely high demand for power internet, they should aim for the highest available speed from the provider and that should be more than 200 Mbps. Connectivity speeds of 500-1000 Mbps are future-proof to accommodate any new technologies that may be developed. This ultra-fast broadband tier enables 4K/HD streaming for several devices, efficient video calling, instantaneous video gaming, particularly for multiplayer games, rapid sharing of files, and innovative home automation with numerous connected gadgets.
Thus an expert suggests that the minimum should be 25 Mbps down for a household with little Internet service provider usage, 100 Mbps down for a household with moderate usage, and 250+ Mbps down if the household has members who heavily use the Internet and more so with streaming devices. These guidelines are incremental and become more significant as there are more individuals in a household or more devices per individual.
Beyond Raw Speeds
At face value, it might appear that bandwidth speed numbers are quite straightforward when in real life they are not. The basic factors to consider are the quality of the available networking equipment, the total number of connected devices, usage patterns, and the restrictions posed by the technology in live networking situations. Just as with latency, running speed tests at different periods in the day can help you show congestion issues from your ISP during particular peak times.
Instead of stressing about the speed tiers that you promised, it is wise to lay your concern on the true internet experience your home users are receiving. Is it also possible to freely stream HD video when necessary for all users? Is it fast to navigate through the web page? Are there any times when you can accomplish tasks uninterrupted? Focus on the regularity of the network throughout ordinary home tasks and do not focus on the impressive figures of megabits alone.
Which residential internet speed may be useful, the fastest is likely unnecessary unless you have specific requirements. The real-world value is highest when a household’s requirements for internet match with the features and prices of a plan. Assess the frequency and purpose by which each family member uses the internet and align home bandwidth to its genuine requirements.
Ready to upgrade your internet experience? Call us now at +1 844-349-7575 to explore the best Cox Internet plans for your needs!