Smart TVs, tablets, and security cameras use up the most speed because they’re often used to stream video. Not all of those smart devices take up a lot of bandwidth individually, but together they can have a significant impact on your internet connection. The average American household has 25 smart devices connected to Wi-Fi, according to a 2021 survey by Deloitte. So if you live with three people, then 100Mbps is perfect for your home Wi-Fi. You also want bandwidth to support devices that are connected in the background, like smart home tech.Ī good target to aim for is 25Mbps for each person in your household. If you live with a roommate, for example, you need enough speed to support each of your own laptops, smartphones, and gaming consoles. You want fast internet to cover the total number of people and devices that connect to your Wi-Fi. How many people use your internet connection? However, fiber internet providers usually deliver symmetrical speeds, giving you uploads that are just as fast as downloads-with uploads hitting 1,000Mbps or higher on the highest-tier plans. In many cases an internet service provider’s download speeds will be up to 15 times faster than the uploads. People spend the majority of their time downloading data from the internet, not uploading it, so traditionally uploads have been set at much lower speeds. Uploads involve loading data onto the internet. But some internet plans give you much faster uploads, and fiber connections can deliver gigabit upload speeds. What is a fast upload speed?Ī fast internet upload speed is at least 10Mbps. You likely don’t have any opportunity to use all that power unless you’re involved in some industrial-grade internet activity, like mining cryptocurrency with dozens of computers all on the same Wi-Fi.

Having internet that fast is like owning a lifted 4WD work truck. There’s no reason to have an internet plan in the range of 2,000Mbps or faster right now. Uploading large files or backing up hard-drives to cloud servers.But other activities take up more bandwidth and thus require much faster speeds.Īctivities that benefit from gigabit internet: It’s not necessary if you spend most of your online time doing things like checking email, streaming video in HD, and video conferencing over Zoom or Skype, since those activities require much less bandwidth. But it’s expensive and faster than most people need, so it’s not worth it for the average user.

It’s also worth it if you share your Wi-Fi with a bunch of roommates or family members.

Gigabit internet is worth it if you use a large amount of bandwidth on a regular basis.

What is upload and download speed