What Download And Upload Speed Is Good

How Much Internet Speed You Need to Work from Dwelling house

Aug 1, 2022 Share
FAQ, Internet Speed Guides

Remote work is at present more common than e'er, merely do you lot have the best cyberspace speeds y'all need to work from home?

Here are the minimum internet speeds we recommend for one person working from domicile:

At least ten Mbps download speed per person
At least ane Mbps upload speed per person

At that place are exceptions , however. We'll interruption downwardly how much bandwidth you need for smooth sailing on conference calls, staying on top of emails, and keeping up with the office gossip. We'll also bear witness you what to do if your internet connection isn't fast enough.

Don't accept enough internet speed to proceed up with work?

Compare all the internet providers in your expanse to find your best plan.

Which net providers are best for working from home?

Fiber internet providers like EarthLink, Google Fiber, and AT&T Cobweb are the best for working from home. You'll become as fast upload and download speeds, which are especially great if you're required to transfer large files to a remote server or be on video calls.

Here's a list of fiber net providers and the speed ranges they offer. Check out specific provider plans beneath or enter your zip code in the tool above for more than information about fiber net plans for working from domicile available near you.

According to our annual client satisfaction survey , EarthLink is the best fiber internet provider in overall satisfaction, speed satisfaction, toll, reliability, and customer service. Verizon and AT&T generally maintained the 2nd and third spots across the board, although AT&T ranked 5th in client service.

No fiber in your area? Go with cable internet

If y'all can't get cobweb internet, cable is your next best option for working from dwelling. Download speeds range from 25–1,000 Mbps, but upload speeds are slower than what you lot'll get with cobweb internet. For instance, your program may back up download speeds of up to 400 Mbps, but the upload max may exist only 30 Mbps.

Here is a list of cable cyberspace providers for working from dwelling:

Our annual client satisfaction survey revealed that Cox was the all-time cable cyberspace provider for overall satisfaction. Information technology also ranked the highest in speed and customer support, while Mediacom ranked the highest in reliability. Optimum (formerly Suddenlink) was the highest ranking cable provider for price.

Meanwhile, Spectrum and Xfinity—the two largest cable internet providers in the US—ranked in the bottom half of our survey. Xfinity ranked the lowest out of 12 for customer service and toll. However, it outranked Spectrum in terms of reliability and speed.

Bottom line: Based on customer feedback, EarthLink is the best fiber internet provider, and Cox is the best cablevision internet provider. To encounter if these providers are in your area, enter your zippo code below.

How much cyberspace speed you demand for Zoom and other video conferencing applications

You demand eight Mbps of download speed for each person in your household who will exist using Zoom, which is too the recommended download speed for Skype. Even if you lot don't utilize Skype, 8 Mbps per person ensures that your conferencing awarding has enough breathing room to role without boot you off mid-sentence.

Video chat application	Min. upload speed	Min. download speed	Rec. upload speed	Rec. download speed
Zoom (one-on-one calling)	600 Kbps	600 Kbps	ane.viii Mbps	one.8 Mbps
Zoom (group calling)	800 Kbps	1 Mbps	three Mbps	2.v Mbps
Google Hangouts and Google Meet	iii.2 Mbps	ane.eight Mbps	3.2 Mbps	3.2 Mbps
Slack	600 Kbps	600 Kbps	600 Kbps	ii Mbps
Skype	128 Kbps	128 Kbps	512 Kbps	8 Mbps

Video chat application	Zoom (one-on-one calling)
Min. upload speed	600 Kbps
Min. download speed	600 Kbps
Rec. upload speed	1.8 Mbps
Rec. download speed	1.8 Mbps

Video conversation awarding	Zoom (grouping calling)
Min. upload speed	800 Kbps
Min. download speed	ane Mbps
Rec. upload speed	iii Mbps
Rec. download speed	two.5 Mbps

Video chat awarding	Google Hangouts and Google Meet
Min. upload speed	3.2 Mbps
Min. download speed	1.8 Mbps
Rec. upload speed	3.2 Mbps
Rec. download speed	iii.2 Mbps

Video conversation awarding	Slack
Min. upload speed	600 Kbps
Min. download speed	600 Kbps
Rec. upload speed	600 Kbps
Rec. download speed	two Mbps

Video chat application	Skype
Min. upload speed	128 Kbps
Min. download speed	128 Kbps
Rec. upload speed	512 Kbps
Rec. download speed	8 Mbps

Video calls require sending and receiving existent-time video simultaneously, so there are a few internet speed factors yous should keep in mind to become the nigh out of your remote meetings. These are download speed, upload speed, and latency:

Download speed affects how well your connection receives video from other people on the call.
Upload speed affects how well your connectedness can send your video stream to others.
Latency affects how well your connections synchronize with each other, and loftier latency can distort calls and cause lag.

Nigh video conferencing applications work all-time with less than 150 ms of latency. Y'all can't control your connection'southward latency as directly as you can alter your speed by upgrading, only know that lower latency is meliorate . Moreover, certain types of internet connections (like cobweb) tend to accept lower latency than others (similar satellite cyberspace).

The speeds necessary for many video calling apps aren't very high. Well-nigh households with an internet connection can manage at least the minimum requirements. That's great because it means we can all stay connected.

If y'all do run across issues with video conferencing, your upload speed is almost likely the culprit. Internet providers more often than not give customers much less upload speed than download speed (except about fiber internet providers). So even if your download speed is safely in the articulate for video calls, your upload speed might not exist up to par for large grouping calls. Turning off your video or switching to a wired connection can assistance.

How much net speed you need for electronic mail and chat applications

Y'all demand just about ane Mbps of internet bandwidth per example for conversation and email .

However, yous may need more bandwidth when yous share photos or videos in your conversations, and when downloading larger assets (like images and attachments) from emails . Only y'all don't need to worry about basic text conversations hogging your bandwidth.

Thankfully, yous tin carry on with your chat and email conversations while you piece of work on other projects without worrying virtually internet interruptions. That's because Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Slack, and similar applications usually don't use a lot of bandwidth .

How much cyberspace speed you demand for web browsing

Nosotros recommend well-nigh 5 Mbps of download speed per person for heavy spider web browsing and jumping between sites.

Browsing the internet doesn't have too much data unless you're visiting pages with a lot of uncompressed images or video content. Just if you're scrolling through social media, nosotros suggest that you go slightly higher than our recommendation , especially if you have video autoplay enabled.

The average web page uses about 2 MB (megabytes) of data . That translates to sixteen Mb (megabits) because there are eight $.25 in one byte. Then if you want a whole spider web page to load within a second, 16 Mbps of download speed would be great.

Simply you often don't need to load the entire assets of a web page to start getting to the content you want, and loading a web folio doesn't take a continuous stream of data—you simply download the content once, and that's all you need for as long as you're on that page.

How much net speed you need to stream media

We recommend v Gbps of download speed at a minimum per person for streaming media.

If you lot stream music or have a testify streaming in the groundwork while y'all work (or someone else in your business firm is binge-watching all of Sailor Moon on Hulu), make sure to factor that into how much internet you need to work from home effectively. This is especially important for video services like YouTube or Netflix because video tin be a bit of a bandwidth grunter.

If yous want to utilize YouTube or a streaming service like Netflix while working from home but run into bandwidth issues like buffering, cheque your video quality settings. YouTube videos can run on as little every bit 0.vii Mbps at 360p, just they can use up to 20 Mbps if you're watching in 4K.

Similarly, standard-definition Netflix can work with as piffling every bit 0.5 Mbps, simply Netflix in 4K uses up to 25 Mbps. And if you're using it only as groundwork racket, you don't need 4K.

How much net speed you need for sharing large files

We recommend at least 10 Mbps of download and upload speeds for sharing large files.

While there are certain requirements around about things y'all do online, when it comes to jobs that necessitate a large corporeality of file sharing, the faster your internet is, the amend. That's not to say you absolutely need fast internet speeds to download and upload large files, only it makes things get much faster and more smoothly.

Here are a few examples of how long it would accept to transfer various sizes of files using common cyberspace speeds.

	10 Mbps downwards/1 Mbps upwards	25 Mbps downwardly/iii Mbps up	100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up	1,000 Mbps downwards/ane,000 Mbps upward
Downloading a hi-res image file (5 MB)	iv seconds	1 2d	Less than i second	Less than 1 2nd
Downloading a minor video file (300 MB)	four minutes, 24 seconds	i minute, 45 seconds	26 seconds	2 seconds
Downloading a large video file (10 GB)	2 hours, 30 minutes	ane 60 minutes	15 minutes	1 infinitesimal, xxx seconds
Uploading a hi-res image (5 MB)	44 seconds	14 seconds	4 seconds	Less than 1 second
Uploading a small video file (300 MB)	44 minutes	14 minutes, 40 seconds	4 minutes, 24 seconds	2 seconds
Uploading a large video file (10 GB)	25 hours	viii hours, twenty minutes	2 hours, xxx minutes	1 infinitesimal, 30 seconds

Downloading a hi-res prototype file (v MB)
ten Mbps down/1 Mbps up	4 seconds
25 Mbps down/3 Mbps up	1 second
100 Mbps down/10 Mbps upwardly	Less than i second
1,000 Mbps down/1,000 Mbps up	Less than ane second

Downloading a small video file (300 MB)
10 Mbps down/1 Mbps up	4 minutes, 24 seconds
25 Mbps down/three Mbps up	ane minute, 45 seconds
100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up	26 seconds
1,000 Mbps downwardly/one,000 Mbps upwardly	2 seconds

Downloading a big video file (10 GB)
ten Mbps down/1 Mbps upwardly	2 hours, thirty minutes
25 Mbps down/3 Mbps upward	ane hour
100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up	15 minutes
one,000 Mbps downward/1,000 Mbps upwardly	ane minute, 30 seconds

Uploading a hello-res image (v MB)
x Mbps downward/1 Mbps up	44 seconds
25 Mbps downwards/3 Mbps upward	xiv seconds
100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up	four seconds
one,000 Mbps downwards/1,000 Mbps up	Less than 1 second

Uploading a small video file (300 MB)
10 Mbps down/1 Mbps up	44 minutes
25 Mbps down/3 Mbps upwards	xiv minutes, 40 seconds
100 Mbps down/10 Mbps up	4 minutes, 24 seconds
1,000 Mbps down/1,000 Mbps upwards	ii seconds

Uploading a large video file (10 GB)
10 Mbps down/1 Mbps up	25 hours
25 Mbps downwards/3 Mbps upwards	viii hours, 20 minutes
100 Mbps down/10 Mbps upward	2 hours, xxx minutes
1,000 Mbps downwards/1,000 Mbps upwardly	1 minute, 30 seconds

What else affects how much speed you need to piece of work from domicile?

Many factors play into your internet connection needs, including your task, the applications you use for piece of work, and, most importantly, how many other people are using your domicile internet.

Y'all'll need more internet speed if, for instance, your kids, partner, or roommates are also online playing games, watching Netflix, or working from dwelling. And y'all'll desire faster speeds if y'all handle a lot of large files and media (like uploading video).

Our internet speed recommendations are generalized . You may demand less or desire much more. Many net service providers (ISPs) offering customers speeds much higher than this recommendation—all the manner up to ii,000 Mbps.

Need more speed?

If you're looking for more than cyberspace speed recommendations for online activities similar gaming or streaming video, cheque out our How Much Speed Do I Need tool.

Across the speeds you get from your cyberspace provider, older home networking equipment, your network layout, and inefficient connections in your home tin also affect your internet speeds. If your internet speed woes stem from something in your network rather than the speeds from your provider, bank check out our guide to faster internet in your home.

What to exercise if your cyberspace speeds aren't fast enough

If you're running into problems with your net connection and wearisome speeds are to blame, the first affair you should do is run a few internet speed tests on the devices you utilize for work to brand certain you lot're getting close to your plan'southward advertised speeds.

If yous're non getting speeds that meet your expectations, try repositioning your Wi-Fi router's antennas for better coverage—or, better yet, connect your work device to your router with an Ethernet connection—and try again.

Sometimes the but things you can do to fix your net speed woes are rationing your internet bandwidth or upgrading to a faster connectedness. You can free upward some bandwidth by limiting non-essential internet traffic during work hours, but if that'due south not practical, cheque out the cyberspace providers in your area to find a plan that improve fits your needs.

FAQ about net speed

What is a good internet speed to piece of work from dwelling house?

You desire at least 10 Mbps of download speed and 1 Mbps of upload speed of defended internet bandwidth for each person working from home. That'southward enough internet speed to let for a couple of different connections at the same time without interruptions.

If you have more than people working (or learning) from dwelling, you'll need more than speed. For instance, a household with 1 work-from-home parent, a kid who is altitude learning, and another parent (who does non work from abode) might desire a 25 Mbps or higher plan to make certain everyone tin can use the internet effectively.

Some people can get by with less net speed, and many want more speed for photo or video uploading and then on .

What is a fast internet speed?

A fast net speed depends on how much bandwidth you need to exercise what you want online without interruptions like buffering or boring load times. The FCC classifies anything above 25 Mbps every bit broadband internet, but ISPs offer speeds ranging up to ane,000 Mbps or more.

We recommend about thirty Mbps per household equally a good place to start if yous're looking for a program for regular internet use. But y'all may need less or more if you piece of work from home, stream a lot of Netflix, play online games, or have more than four people using the same connectedness.

What is the average cyberspace speed in the U.s.a.?

Co-ordinate to our internet speed test results, the average internet speed in the The states is 42.86 Mbps.

Proceed in heed that this average spans cyberspace users across different speed tiers and in different areas of the land. And just because information technology is the boilerplate doesn't hateful that information technology'southward necessarily a proficient net speed for you.

Does shutting off video help meetings?

Disabling your video can free up some bandwidth to improve a briefing call'due south sound . Moreover, participants can turn off their photographic camera feed to lighten the shared load, specially if they don't need to appear on the screen.

Why does my internet slow downwards at sure times?

Many types of internet services are afflicted by network traffic, including cablevision and DSL. So, if a lot of people in the same area are on your provider's network simultaneously, you could see slower speeds in your dwelling network.

Writer - Rebecca Lee Armstrong

Rebecca Lee Armstrong has more than 6 years of experience writing about tech and the internet, with a specialty in hands-on testing. She started writing tech product and service reviews while finishing her BFA in creative writing at the University of Evansville and has found her niche writing about home networking, routers, and internet access at HighSpeedInternet.com. Her work has also been featured on Top Ten Reviews, MacSources, Windows Primal, Android Fundamental, Best Company, TechnoFAQ, and iMore.

Editor - Cara Haynes

Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for vii years, and she's edited all things cyberspace for HighSpeedInternet.com for five years. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. When she's not editing, she makes tech attainable through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in cyberspace land and that a skillful cyberspace connectedness significantly extends your life bridge.