What is a good download and upload speed?
27th September, 2021 | Home / Blog / Broadband speed / What is a good download and upload speed?Reading time: 9 minutes
Let’s face it, an internet connection is a must for most people, and it needs to be a reliable one at that. But have you ever wondered what download speed you really need?
A good download speed is not the same for everyone, as we all use the internet for an array of different uses. In this blog post, we’ll help you work out if you’re a light, medium, or heavy user and what that could mean for your connection needs.
Not sure what internet speeds you’re currently getting? Use our broadband speed test to find out now.
Quick links:
- What is the minimum broadband speed I need?
- What is a good download speed?
- What can I do with my internet speed?
- What is a good broadband speed for streaming Video?
- How is broadband speed measured?
- What is a good broadband download speed Mbps?
- What is a good speed for download?
- What is a good broadband upload speed in Mbps?
- What is a good internet speed?
- What is a good upload speed?
- What Mbps is good?
What is the minimum broadband speed I need?
The minimum broadband speed is 10Mbps, at least. This is a bare minimum download speed. This will allow you to do the most basic online tasks such as surfing the web, email, social media, online shopping and streaming in standard definition.
But what happens if multiple people in the house are using the internet at once? That’s where things get more complicated.
What is a good download speed?
A good download speed is 5Mbps. That’s the minimum for streaming your Netflix on your HD TV.You rely on the internet for a lot more than basic activities. Ultra HD requires 25Mbps.
At the same time, someone else in the house may be online gaming, or watching a YouTube video, while another person is on a video call with their friends.
All these activities chip away at your bandwidth, and having only 10Mbps between you won’t get you very far – that’s why our packages start at a minimum of 40Mbps.
What speed broadband do you need to watch Netflix?
What can I do with my internet speed?
- with 10Mbps – One person: surfing the web, social media, online shopping, SD streaming
- with 40Mbps – HD streaming, online gaming, multiple people: surfing the web, social media, online shopping
- with 100Mbps – Ultra HD streaming, HD streaming for multiple people, online gaming for multiple people
- with 250Mbps – Multiple heavy users, ultrafast downloads, Ultra HD on multiple devices
- with 900Mbps – Simultaneous UHD streaming, online gaming and large downloads for almost any number of devices
If you want to know exactly what download speeds you need for different activities, look at how much broadband do I need?
What is a good broadband speed for streaming Video?
A good broadband speed for streaming video is 3Mbps. That’s the minimum broadband speed required to stream on most platforms in standard definition (SD).
5Mbps is the minimum to stream in HD, while 25Mbps is the minimum download speed required for Ultra HD.
If you’re not getting fast enough speeds, find out how to improve broadband speed: 5 tips for streaming your TV.
How is broadband speed measured?
Broadband speed is measured in bits. Most broadband packages measured in megabits-per-second (Mbps).
An important distinction to make is megabits(Mb) vs megabytes(MB).
Files are normally described in megabytes. A megabyte is actually 8 megabits, so to download a 1MB file on a 1Mbps connection would take 8 seconds.
What is internet bandwidth?
Internet bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred across your connection at a given time. Although bandwidth is often used to refer to your internet speeds, there is a slight difference, internet speeds are the rate of data transfer, while your bandwidth is how much your connection can handle at a given time.
What download speeds do I need?
What is the difference between download and upload speed?
The difference between download and upload speed is download speed is how fast you can retrieve data from the internet. Upload speed is the speed you can send data from your devices to the internet.
Sure, we do tend to download more than we upload, so having a faster download speed is understandably the priority. However, there are still some day-to-day activities that require a decent upload speed such as video calls, online gaming and of course, uploading all your favourite photos to social media.
What is a good broadband download speed Mbps?
A good download speed is at least 25Mbps for most internet activities. But you should have at least 40Mbps if you have multiple users in the house.
For those who like to stream in Ultra HD, we’d recommend a speedier connection. Ultra HD requires at least 25Mbps, so if more than one of you is online, you’ll want a bigger bandwidth of up to 100Mbps.
If your family are heavy users, and you’re likely to be gaming, streaming, downloading and video calling all at once, we recommend 250Mbps and upwards.
For the ultimate broadband experience, we recommend 900Mbps.
What is a good speed for download?
A good speed for downloading is 25Mbps. But it depends what you’re downloading. Downloading a song or photo can easily be done on a standard connection, however, larger files can take a while. Downloading game console files the size of 30GB and 50GB should be fine on 25Mbps download speed. But Ultra HD movies would take 2 hours to download on a 10Mbps connection. So, if you don’t want your download to take all day, you’ll need a faster connection.
Have a look at the table below for an idea of what you can achieve with different download speeds:
| Speed | 200 family photos (200MB) | Xbox or PlayStation game (40GB) | 40-minute HD TV show (1 GB) | 100 high quality songs (500MB) | 2-hour 1080p HD movie (4GB) | 2-hour 4K Ultra HD movie (14GB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | 2m 47s | 9h 32m 39s | 14m 18s | 6m 59s | 57m | 2h 20m 25s |
| 40 Mbps | 41s | 2h 23m 9s | 3m 34s | 1m 44s | 14m 18s | 50m 6s |
| 250 Mbps | 6s | 22m 54s | 34s | 16s | 2m 17s | 8m 1s |
| 900 Mbps | 1s | 6m 21s | 9s | 4s | 38s | 2m 13s |
What is a good broadband upload speed in Mbps?
A good broadband upload speed in Mbps is 5Mbps. That’s more than enough for most video calling platforms, uploading small files and casual online gaming. Our packages start at 10Mbps to ensure you’ll have more than enough.
If you’re a more competitive gamer, or frequently upload large files, you’ll want a speedier upload of at least 25Mbps.
What is a good internet speed?
A good internet speed is 25Mbps download speed. But it really depends on what you need from your broadband. If you’re gaming often and using video platforms like Zoom or Facetime, you might need 900Mbps.
What is a good upload speed?
A good upload speed is 5Mbps because you can use this for video calls, and generally browsing the internet. If you’re a pro gamer or need to download many files, you will need much more.
What Mbps is good?
5Mbps upload speed and 25Mbps download speed is good. But there are lots of factors that will affect what broadband speeds you need.
A path to better broadband
If you’re looking for faster download and upload speeds, why not try Airband?
Our wireless and full fibre broadband connections can deliver superfast and ultrafast speeds to your doorstep, and bandwidth that can cope. Use our coverage checker to see if you’re in range.
If you have any queries, feel free to chat to us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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