Home Internet Speed - 200, 400, 800mbps. Can we really tell the difference?

[foxcreek9]

There are 2 of use, we had 50 for a long time and now have 200 (deal from comcast, same cost locked for 2 years). No noticeable difference - 2 streams at most and general browsing.

 

[Major Tom]

As has already been said, the main difference a faster service will make is in your download times of large files. I have 10 Gigabit fiber which, in reality, probably tops out at 6-7 Gigabit. I am "only" getting 940Mbps down and 816Mbps up with 3ms latency, because my hardware puts a cap on the speed. Nevertheless, 940Mbps is way more than I need. If I were a gamer, the 3ms latency would be making me giddy with excitement.

I do enjoy the fast file download times though. For $30/month with no extra taxes or fees, it's a steal.

 

[statsman]

I do enjoy the fast file download times though. For $30/month with no extra taxes or fees, it's a steal.

$30/mo for what is basically 1 GB fiber? Wow. The two local fiber providers cost $90/mo ($85 with autopay).

 

[Major Tom]

$30/mo for what is basically 1 GB fiber? Wow. The two local fiber providers cost $90/mo ($85 with autopay).

$29.99 actually, being pedantic I agree; it's a good price.

This plan comes without a VPN or email addresses, neither of which I need. They are no longer "officially" offering it to new customers, though I suspect it might be available to those who ask. New customers are now offered "up to 10 Gig" service with a VPN and email addresses for $49.99/month. For an extra $10, they can also have a VOIP "landline".

My previous service was around 3Mbps, so 1 Gig service represents a huge upgrade, and all I'm likely to need for a long time. I'm not sure that I care about a VOIP "landline" at home.

 

[ERD50]

As has already been said, the main difference a faster service will make is in your download times of large files. ....

And even that isn't as expected often times.

I've DL'd some larger files, thinking this is where I'll see the speed I rarely use, but as far as I can tell, the source of that file can't deliver it at speeds near my bandwidth.

I'm sure there are cases where it comes close, but so far, I haven't seen it.

Maybe later I'll experiment with a torrent download - those access many users who share a portion of the file, so you aren't limited by any one source. But there are a lot of variables there as well.

I guess I should start with transferring one large file from computer-to-computer on my network, just to see how much my WiFi/commuter processing is limiting me.

-ERD50

 

[Midpack]

Like others have said, most residential users over estimate what they need. More isn't necessarily faster.

Before 2019, we had 60 mbps with Comcast and never had any issues. Loaded up we had two 1080p TVs, two iPad and/or two iPhones on WiFi.

In our new house we had 1000 mbps AT&T Fiber, only because they offered it for $50/mo for three years. Same as above, though we now have our home security on WiFi, a printer and watch TV 4K sometimes. We downgraded to 300 mbps AT&T Fiber last year to stay at $50/mo, and we don't have any issues at all. I am sure 300 mbps is still more than we need. Anything more than that wouldn't be necessary unless you're a business user working at home with a lot more WiFi traffic going on. I do not know how gaming figures in.

If you're unsure I'd get the lowest bandwidth/cost plan and see how it goes. I am sure your provider will let you upgrade, but they might not be as likely to encourage you to reduce bandwidth if you start with more...

 

[Major Tom]

And even that isn't as expected often times.

I've DL'd some larger files, thinking this is where I'll see the speed I rarely use, but as far as I can tell, the source of that file can't deliver it at speeds near my bandwidth.

-ERD50

Good point. At least with a blazing fast connection, when your internet activity becomes sluggish, you know the problem is not at your end. If nothing else, it's good for that certain "smug" factor

 

[rodi]

We had (past tense) Spectrum cable modem. Even though, in theory, they were increasing our speed, it never seemed to increase... in fact it seemed to be as slow as ever... about 20M down, and 10M up. This is with a newer modem/router.

More importantly, they kept raising the prices. They'd offer wonderful deals for new subs, but we were paying more than $100/month for the midrange (not fastest) internet.

T-mobile came to our area... I was already a tmobile phone subscriber. I signed up for the OTA wifi/internet. I kept both so I could try it out. T-mobile, in theory slower, kicked Spectrum Time Warner's butt. Younger son came home from college and comment the first day that the wifi was faster. It was that obvious. I cancelled the Spectrum/Time Warner internet and haven't looked back.

I'm now paying $40/month (because it's bundled with my phone, and autopaid... otherwise it would be $50). And I'm getting faster speeds. Just checked - I've got 80M down and 20 up. So $60/month cheaper AND it's faster.

 

[ncbill]

Haven't noticed the difference between 45 last year & 150 this year up here at the cabin.

Took over 60 years to have anything here but a phone line until last summer.

 

[gwill1010]

This year I cut my cable and increased my Internet speed from 400mbps to 800mbps. I am not sure I can tell the difference. I upgraded my Modem and Router, and the OKLA speed test shows a consistent 945mbps.

No one web site or other service you connect to will deliver you data that fast. Only if you have many people streaming video would you need anything faster than 100mb. Unless you're downloading files from some service that guarantees delivery that fast do you need these super fast speeds.

Think about this as if you have a 12" water pipe coming into your house, but you're only connected to your neighbor's garden hose.

 

[Qs Laptop]

No one web site or other service you connect to will deliver you data that fast. Only if you have many people streaming video would you need anything faster than 100mb. Unless you're downloading files from some service that guarantees delivery that fast do you need these super fast speeds.

And every PC gamer with a hot rig connected to fiber and using ethernet connections in house is rolling their eyes right now...

 

[gwill1010]

And every PC gamer with a hot rig connected to fiber and using ethernet connections in house is rolling their eyes right now...

You're talking about latency. I started to go there, but that's kind of over the top for most of us.

 

[Qs Laptop]

You're talking about latency. I started to go there, but that's kind of over the top for most of us.

True, true...

 

[retire48in2018]

Figure 15-25 mps per streamer

In this house -DW counts at least x 3
Rest of adults (3) x 2

9 streaming - want 225 minimum


(It is normal for each of us to be streaming (YouTube or otherwise) on a personal device and doing /watching something else at same time.

 

[retire48in2018]

DW is always streaming YouTube into an air bud, watching something on a tablet and having a tv show/news in background ….

 

[tulak]

I went from 1 Gigabit to 500Mbps fiber and don’t notice a difference. Saves me $25/month.

Latency is important. Cable modem will be in the 12ms range and fiber will get you around 2-3ms. With lower latency, browsing will feel “more responsive.” Subjective, maybe?

But I noticed an difference when loading a website over fiber vs cable.

It also helps to have higher upload speeds, depending on what you are doing. 800Mbps download with 20Mbps upload is not great, but that what you usually get with cable internet. Fiber is same speed bi-directional.

 

[GhostofTomJoad]

T-Mobile's customer service couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat. But no problems with their internet service. Wife still uses them for her phone. I use consumer cellular.

Hardly ever a problem, room to room, with the MacBook Air, in this not very big apartment.
Note: I'm in Honolulu, and the Speakeasy test wants to use San Francisco as the anchor-point.

Download: 77 mbps.
Upload: 29 mbps.
Jitter: 5.
Ping 75.
Dunno what those last 2 numbers even mean.

There it is, just for comparison, for reference.

 

[DallasGuy]

I have 100 down, 10 up....works just fine for me. Anything over that would be overkill for me imo.

 

[skyking1]

We switched from our local ISP to comcast recently. We went from 150 to 200, and no noticeable differences. It was the only time we won the game with an ISP, things got all wonky while I was trying to get it started @25 a month, the deal expired. The CSR worked on it for an hour, and got it locked in at a flat $15 and I was good with that!

 

[11522914]

And even that isn't as expected often times.



I've DL'd some larger files, thinking this is where I'll see the speed I rarely use, but as far as I can tell, the source of that file can't deliver it at speeds near my bandwidth.



I'm sure there are cases where it comes close, but so far, I haven't seen it.

And neither have I. I was downloading a 100 gig video game on my Microsoft Xbox and now having 500 Mbps I thought this shouldn't take too long.

The download never exceeded 300 Mbps and it would bounce all over the place. It averaged about 190.

So the one time I thought it would benefit me it didn't even come close.

 

[skyking1]

so many times the server is capped and dependent on the number of streams it is serving. It is one of those cases where if you pick the right time you will see some awesome speeds.

 

[DallasGuy]

New home (closed 9/12/2023)

Installed 1 GB Fiber right to the house.

Modem/router is in the family room, 12 feet from the big TV.

New Amazon 4K Fire Stick - last night, watching the football game on Prime, I had buffering issues and a fuzzy screen sometimes. Bad Fire Stick?

Speed test shows greater than 500 MB down and up on wireless.

Who knows?

I find that when my fire tv stick 4k Max starts slowing down or buffering, I have to go into the app settings and clear the cache and stop the apps....and then perhaps reboot the fire stick. Then it runs better for awhile. I must use some apps that are more memory intensive or something??...not really sure.

 

[folivier]

Just an FYI, a couple months ago I got an email from Cox who is my internet provider. It was for a $30/month govt. discount. I filled out the application and now have the discount each month. Worth a look since it cut my monthly service almost to half the cost.

 

[target2019]

This year I cut my cable and increased my Internet speed from 400mbps to 800mbps. I am not sure I can tell the difference. I upgraded my Modem and Router, and the OKLA speed test shows a consistent 945mbps.

I do a lot of downloading of Movies and TV Series, DW does a lot of YouTube probably averaging total around 700gb a month.

My internet usage other than that is what one would expect from an active user.

I am tempted to downgrade to 200mbps to test it out but thought I would ask the folks here if they have any real-world experience.

We always want to get the fastest possible, it is in a techie's nature to "think" faster is better.

Any input would be appreciated.

If every device (including routers, modem and copper) are sufficient for the max delivered, then you'll feel a difference in large downloads. The number of devices in use is a factor. So, if there is a family of seven with 2 devices each, you'll overcome some problems with higher bandwidth delivered. AS the number of devices in use goes down, less of a benefit.

The only way to compare in your house with your network and devices is to try it out.

We have 200 Mbps service with comcast. For two users, 2-3 devices each, it is sufficient.

 

[Fermion]

We have Spectrum in our apartment at 300mbs and just got it hooked up for our new house build. That one is a promotional rate at $49.95 for the first 13 months then probably goes up to $84.99 or whatever.

It is solid and no lag. Cheaper than Starlink I guess.

If your income is on the lower side, you can qualify for $30 off or something like that, which would bring the $84.99 down to $54.99 (or lower I guess if you had a promotional rate).