Internet

How Fast Does Your Internet Need to Be for Streaming?

by John Muller March 11, 2022 1218 Views

It’s hard to imagine many people who don’t rely daily on the internet. Whether for entertainment, work, school, or general needs, the internet is an indispensable source for a wealth of information. Your home connection will come at a particular speed, allowing you to do different things online. The faster the connection, the more data your internet can handle and the more media you can enjoy and use. If streaming live TV and movies and playing video games are important to you, make sure you have a fast enough connection to meet your needs.

What You Expect When You Stream

A good speed for simple online browsing is different from the right speed for watching movies or TV shows, as well as doing online gaming. When you stream online, you expect to have a clear picture and seamless playing from start to finish. Your online viewing experience should be no different from watching a movie on a DVD.

Problems That Slow Speeds Will Cause

A lot of frustration can occur when you don’t have the right internet speed for streaming. You may find that the media lags or stops and starts frequently. Your picture may freeze for several seconds or longer. Or, you may even have choppy audio. Without the right speed, your media will have a hard time playing when more than one person is using your Wi-Fi. All of these can cause you to have a poor viewing experience

What Is the Ideal Speed?

The speed you should look for may vary depending on your needs. At a minimum, you should plan on having an internet speed of at least 5 Mbps. This will let you watch high-definition programming. Keep in mind, though, that this speed will only be good for a single viewer. If you want to watch movies on high-quality 4K from providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, you’ll need at least 15 Mbps, though 25 Mbps is better. If you have more than two people streaming simultaneously, you should shop for 50 Mbps of speed.

Speeding Up

Not long ago, it could be difficult to find the right speed for streaming. Many customers were discouraged by this, as higher speeds were not available. However, today 50 Mbps speeds are more common. Last year, download speeds increased to 95 Mbps.

Culprits That Can Slow You Down

Just because you have a fast internet speed, there is no guarantee that your connection will always meet your goals. If you have an older modem or router, you can experience interruptions and other slowdowns. You may find that Wi-Fi reception is poorer in some parts of the home than in others. If this happens, move your modem or router around until you find a better reception.