Minimum internet speed recommended

[Cobra9777]

We upgraded our fiber service to gigabit during the pandemic. DS and DDIL moved in with us for several months after a fire at their house. They both worked from home at the time and our 300 Mbps was clearly not adequate. They were both on Zoom calls all day with laptops and cellphones running nonstop.

At the time, gigabit was $79/mo. I also upgraded our Wifi to an Eero mesh system. Everything was WAY better.

When they moved out, I called to downgrade and I was offered a special price of $49/mo to stay on the gigabit service. I assumed it would only be for a year or two. But it's now been 4 years and I'm still paying $49.

Gigabit is probably overkill for us. I once calculated our theoretical peak usage at about 250 Mbps. But still, I like fast internet with plenty of overhead for the inevitable slowdowns. There are 3 of us: DW, DMIL, and myself. It's not unusual for 3 TVs to be streaming 4K video at the same time. I just counted 24 devices on our Eero mesh system (lots of IoT devices, including 4 1080p cameras). Plus ~5 devices that are hardwired: multiple PCs, streaming boxes, and VoIP home phone. Our monthly usage averages 850-900 GBs.

I'm with Qs... go 600.

 

[dixonge]

^^^ I would say this is nothing to do with your internet provider all to do with your wifi set up.

Basically thick concrete walls and heavy wooden doors...

 

[Car-Guy]

I think the industry has conditioned most of us (marketing) that more Internet "Access Speed" is better. IMO, the vast majority of us will find 20 to 25 meg is more than is needed with today's services/applications. (sure there are a few exceptions). Besides, there are plenty of bottlenecks to "potentially" limit the usability of 100's of meg. Examples, your PC, your wireless router, your ISP, the Internet routers/network paths/types, the server you are accessing, the backend servers that the front end (Internet facing) server is accessing, etc.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

300 should be way more than enough and cable connections are great provided the network is maintained and they invest in capacity.

I would check on those aspects of wow before paying the extra money to lock a price for life. They are smaller company and may lack the resources to keep the network up to snuff.

 

[target2019]

We're doing fine with 150. Two floors and basement, more than 24 devices. Iot is assigned 2Ghz, tablets and phones use 5Ghz and 2. PCs are cat5e.

We have two users most days with four a couple of times each month. With a wireless router on each floor there are no coverage drop outs.

The monthly cost is $69 to Comcast. All equipment is ours.

 

[Chuckanut]

My 100 mps is with fiber, not from a cable company. The speed is the same up and down. As I understand it, most cable speeds are fast on the download and much slower on the upload. Though maybe this has changed? I don’t know.

 

[target2019]

For a typical consumer the download speed comes into play more often. My theoretical is 600 down and 150 up.

If I had a business need such as a number of offline backups and data synching, then I'd want better upload speeds.

 

[MBSC]

My 100 mps is with fiber, not from a cable company. The speed is the same up and down. As I understand it, most cable speeds are fast on the download and much slower on the upload. Though maybe this has changed? I don’t know.

Cable internet is still asymmetrical except for a few locations. The OP's current Spectrum plan is 600/20 and WOW is 300/20. 20 up is enough for a majority of subscribers, but some who WFH (without a fiber option) have to get Gig cable internet specifically for the 35+ Mbps upload speeds.

 

[euro]

300 is plenty for most people. I am locked into 10 (!) at my mountain cabin (grandfathered into an old, less expensive plan) and it is perfectly fine for streaming on one TV and watching a YouTube clip on a ipad at the same time.

 

[Livefree]

We just quit Xfinity when they raised the price, and went with Verizon with 300 Mbps for $49 including their modem. Works fine.

 

[pb4uski]

We have had 300 mbps in the past and found it adequate. I suggest that you try it. If you find it too slow can you upgrade to a higher speed?

 

[pb4uski]

I agree, and you're not alone.

My Xfinity Nightmare!

We had Xfinity in our Florida condo and we're very happy with it.

 

[RunningBum]

For a typical consumer the download speed comes into play more often. My theoretical is 600 down and 150 up.

If I had a business need such as a number of offline backups and data synching, then I'd want better upload speeds.

Online action gaming benefits from higher upload speeds too.

 

[MichaelB]

Yes, wow is a cable company. Normally, I wouldn't play the "is it fast enough roulette", but I think this is one of those times where if I don't notice the difference, why spend the extra money? Sure, it's only $15 more but my frugal gene is kicking in and that's $180 per year for essentially nothing if 300 works fine. When I was working and working from home, I wouldn't have thought twice about the faster number. And, If they ever run fiber here, I'll probably jump on that, even though it's probably overkill to the extreme. But in this case, I think I'm going to start off in the new condo with the slower speed and see what happens. Especially given the responses above - Thanks everyone!

300 should be more than enough. Even if it’s not, you can still switch to a faster plan, so it seems the downside risk is minimal.

 

[zinger1457]

I think the industry has conditioned most of us (marketing) that more Internet "Access Speed" is better. IMO, the vast majority of us will find 20 to 25 meg is more than is needed with today's services/applications. (sure there are a few exceptions).

That's my experience, I live in a rural area so we always lagged behind the cities in internet speed but even when I had 30M years ago it was more than adequate for full time TV HD streaming and all my other Internet needs, never had any issues.
Just buy the lowest cost plan available and see if it meets your needs, easy enough to increase if needed.

 

[GBcycling]

We streamed w Netflix and prime at 150mps without issue. And we had a couple kids at home at the time.

 

[AudiDudi]

How Much Speed Do I Need to Stream Video?

Wondering how much internet speed you will need to stream Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, Disney+, Sling, Max, and more? Here are the answers you seek.

www.highspeedinternet.com

 

[Jerry1]

How Much Speed Do I Need to Stream Video?

Wondering how much internet speed you will need to stream Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, Disney+, Sling, Max, and more? Here are the answers you seek.

www.highspeedinternet.com

I saw that. It recommended 40mbps. 40. That along with the comments here have me feeling a lot more confident that 300mbps will be plenty. Now, I just hope WOW is reliable.

 

[AudiDudi]

I saw that. It recommended 40mbps. 40. That along with the comments here have me feeling a lot more confident that 300mbps will be plenty. Now, I just hope WOW is reliable.

I have 500 up and 500 dn on fibre when I'm in AZ for the Winter. I see no difference at home in MT where I have 15/2 for streaming, but I do see a difference when I'm downloading GB+ files which is about 6 times/yr. I can wait the extra 5-10 minutes. Typical surfing/email time is not noticeable.

 

[aaronc879]

Just did the test and it said 54mps. I stream tv shows and movies all day without issue. I can't imagine why 300 would be too little for your usage.

 

[ERD50]

How Much Speed Do I Need to Stream Video?

Wondering how much internet speed you will need to stream Netflix, Apple TV, Hulu, Disney+, Sling, Max, and more? Here are the answers you seek.

www.highspeedinternet.com

Finally - some FACTS rather than opinion! Thanks!

I saw that. It recommended 40mbps. 40. That along with the comments here have me feeling a lot more confident that 300mbps will be plenty. Now, I just hope WOW is reliable.

Yes, and 40mpbs is for two 4K streaming videos (~ 20mbps each). You didn't mention 4K streaming, and if you are streaming a more typical HD, that's only 5mbps each. So yes, 300mbps is way more than enough, even when degraded.

This is one of my concerns. In a wired connection, I get the same or better as what my official speed is (600 currently). But, it degrades quickly over WiFi. I get about 360 on my iPad. So, I guess if 300 becomes 100, I’d still be good.

That's not how it works. The WiFi throughput is based on your WiFi protocol limits (not the speed of the source), and degradation from walls/interference. If your iPad is getting 360 with 600 into the modem, I suspect you will see close to 300mbps on a 300mbps modem ( some loss due to conversion overhead - one AI source says 200 on a 300 source is realistic under good conditions). But as you can see from the above data, it really doesn't matter - your iPad won't need more than ~ 5mbps for an HD stream or ~ 20mbps if it supports 4K.

 

[wolf]

Keep it simple. Go for the "slowest", cheapest plan first. If it does not work, just upgrade to next plan.
Just one phone call. You will be surprised, OP. Your needs to not required super fast internet.

 

[Dalton]

I'm laughing in 6 Mbps right now (DSL)

Yeah, I have 4 max. It's almost enough to stream at 1080p (does fine at 1080p on the TV most of the time, while also doing forum surfing, but can't have anything happening in the background).