What Is a Good Internet Speed? How Many Mbps You Actually Need

The short answer: 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload. That is the benchmark the FCC raised fixed broadband to in March 2024, up from the 25/3 standard that had stood since 2015, and it is the closest thing to an official definition of adequate.

The useful answer is different, because the right number depends entirely on how many people share the connection and what they are doing at the same time. A single person streaming in 4K needs a fraction of what a family of five needs on a weekday evening. Run a speed test first so you know what you actually have, then work out what you actually need.

Add up what runs simultaneously, using the figures the services publish themselves rather than a rule of thumb.

Two 4K streams and a video call comes to roughly 35 Mbps. That is why 100 Mbps feels generous for most households and why the jump to gigabit changes far less than the price difference suggests: past a certain point the connection stops being what limits you.

Yes, for the large majority of households. 100 Mbps is exactly the FCC benchmark and supports around six simultaneous 4K streams, or any realistic mix of streaming, calls, gaming and downloads without anyone noticing anyone else.

It becomes limiting in three situations: very large downloads on a regular basis, a household where many people work from home and upload at once, or a plan where 100 Mbps down comes paired with a much smaller upload, which is common on cable. The download figure is what gets advertised; the upload figure is what you feel on a video call.

The FCC benchmark is 20 Mbps up. In practice, around 10 Mbps is comfortable for HD video calls and cloud backup, and about 5 Mbps is the floor for a stable 1080p call, since Zoom asks for roughly 3.8 Mbps each way.

Upload matters more than most people expect, because it carries everything you send: your camera on a call, files to cloud storage, photo backup, anything you publish. It is also where the technologies differ most. Fibre is usually symmetrical, meaning upload matches download. Cable often gives you a tenth of your download speed or less, so a 300 Mbps cable plan can come with 15 Mbps up.

A practical guide, assuming ordinary use rather than everyone streaming 4K at once.

If your plan is well above these and you are still unhappy with it, the problem is almost certainly not the plan. It is far more often Wi-Fi, an ageing router, or congestion at peak hours — none of which is fixed by paying for more speed.

This is worth checking, because it is one of the few places a household can cut a bill with no downside at all. Two questions settle it.

First, are you getting what you pay for? Test your speed over an Ethernet cable at a quiet time of day. A result within about 20 percent of your advertised plan is normal. Consistently far below it, on a cable, is worth raising with your provider.

Second, do you use it? If you are on 500 Mbps and the table above says your household needs 100, the extra is doing nothing. Speed is not stored up. The exception is upload: if calls or backups are the pain point, a plan with better upload is worth more than one with a bigger download number.