The internet speed is one of the most important factors in any form of internet use. It doesn’t matter if you are using the internet for gaming, streaming videos, skyping or just surfing the web, the speed of your internet will directly influence how much enjoyment you get from these activities.
A bad and slow internet connection will interrupt your streaming, Skype calls will stutter and lag, opening your web pages will take forever and latency will make gaming impossible. All these activities require different internet speeds to run smoothly and picking the right one for you can be difficult. Also, the higher the speed is, the more it will cost you, so it is very important not to overpay your service if you are not planning to use it to the fullest potential.
A lot of factors go into determining how much speed you need for certain processes and that is why we have decided to put together this guide for how to choose the right internet speed for yourself regardless of the intended use.
Casual Users
Casual users are the largest group of internet consumers. This includes anything from making Skype calls and watching Netflix to surfing the web and online shopping. Usually, this doesn’t require a fast internet connection, but if you don’t want to have any issues, it is better to go a little bit over the recommended minimum.
You will have no problem with any of the above-mentioned activities if you use 1.5 Mbps download internet, but some features like HD videos on Netflix and YouTube require at least 5 Mbps to run without any stuttering or pauses for buffering. It should also be noted that these measures are intended for a single connection and if you run more devices on your network, you will probably need faster internet.
Gaming People
To properly play online video games on your computer or gaming console, you will need a bit faster internet than the casual users. The main concern for gamers is not the top download or upload speed, but the ping or responsiveness of your connection. Ping is a measure that determines how fast it takes for the signal to travel from your router to the game servers. The lower the ping is to the servers, the better response time you will have in your game.
Ping or latency affects games greatly and should be your number one concern when picking your internet service provider. The ideal ping number is less than 100 ms (milliseconds) and you should go for anything less than 5 Mbps. Besides a reliable and fast internet connection, there are other tricks you can use to reduce your latency.
Firstly, you should connect your PC or console to your router with Ethernet cables. Your ping will be much lower than if you are using Wi-Fi connection. Secondly, never download or upload anything during your gaming sessions; it will suck all of your speed and make gaming unbearable.
Fast Business Internet
Lastly, the group that needs the fastest internet is commercial users. All the above-mentioned refers to private users and they usually need an internet connection for one computer and maybe a couple of portable devices, but small and large businesses have a lot more connections. That is why they need a lot faster internet speeds so everyone can use it without any problems.
These are by far the most expensive internet packages and are only worth your while if you have a bunch of people connected at the same time. These speeds go from 100mbps up to 100gbps depending on the needs of your company. It is not easy to catch a good offer for internet speeds this fast. I personally always check with internet providers near me if they have some new packages or discounts. You will save a lot of money by doing so.
As you can see, the ideal internet speed depends a lot on what you are planning to do on the internet. We hope that we gave you a clear answer to this question and that you will now easily determine what speed is right for you. Just remember to count all other potential connections on your network so you don’t end up switching for a faster internet right away.