What is good internet speed for working from home? (2023)

During the COVID-19 outbreak, many of us jump at the opportunity to move to a new state, travel across the United States, or relocate to a foreign country.

In this new world of remote work, an Internet download speed of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) is recommended for the average family that requires some members to work from home.

But the internet speed it takes to work from home isn't an exact science. It depends on what you use on the internet like Netflix, email and shopping on Amazon. This is what you should know.

What is a good internet speed for working from home?

In the 1986 classic Top Gun, Tom Cruise coined the line, "I feel the need, the need for speed!" The same applies to Internet access at home.

The reality of an internet plan without sufficient speed is like a two lane highway with many people driving to the point of sale at the same time.

Before upgrading your existing Internet service, you should consider several factors:

• Use testing tools likeSpeedtest.netto see your current internet speed
• Count how many people are using the internet in your house (don't forget the neighbors who "take" your internet or visitors who want to connect to the internet)
• Determine how often everyone in the house uses the Internet
• Determine what each person uses the Internet for

Don't forget to consider online activities that include:

• Shopping
• games
• video call
• email and social media
• Video and music streaming
• Connected devices, such as home security cameras

Once you understand how your family uses the Internet, take a moment and determine the speed requirements for each activity.

Below is a table to give you an idea of ​​how much internet speed is required for common online activities.

Don't forget to include family members who might be watching Disney+, playing distance learning or gaming, and your Zoom calling, email, and Slack needs.

For example, you may need enough internet speed for the following situation:

• four family members
• Email and web browsing: 10 Mbit/s per member
• Zoom calls: 3 Mbps per call
• Video streaming: 15 Mbps per streaming device

This means that your internet speed requirements would be around 88 Mbps:

• Four people x 10 Mbps = 40 Mbps
• One call Zoom x 3 Mbps = 3 Mbps
• Three streaming devices x 15 Mbps = 45 Mbps
• Total: 88Mbps(we recommend 100 Mbps to be safe)

Understanding connection latency and time of day

Even with the advertised internet speed you pay for, you can often see slower speeds in your test results.

Going back to the highway analogy, if too many people rush to the point of sale, everyone will be delayed due to traffic jams. If the internet is slow, it could also be due to congestion or too many people trying to connect at the same time.

The result is that annoying on-screen spinning wheel.

Knowing that there will be network congestion, how do you plan to get decent internet speed to meet your needs? Predicting when Internet congestion will occur is never an exact science. Slow internet can be caused by something in your house, e.g.an old router, or possibly your local network or ISP.

OperationInternet speed teststhroughout the day is a good way to see the changes in your speeds. In this way, you can get an idea of ​​the least congested time of day in your home and neighborhood.

How much internet speed do you need for video calls?

When working remotely, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, and Skype are must-have tools. This means that the speed of the Internet to host and connect to video chats without affecting the rest of the family is also crucial.

Using Zoom as an example, these are the recommended internet speeds for video calls:

• For 1:1 video calls:600 Kbit/s-3 Mbit/s
• For group video calls:600 Kbit/s-4 Mbit/s
• To share screen without video thumbnail:50-75 Kbit/s
• To share screen with video thumbnail:50-150 Kbit/s

How much internet speed do you need to send emails and browse the web?

Aside from the usual work-from-home apps like Zoom and Slack, how much bandwidth is needed just for email and web browsing?

Since most emails still contain a large amount of text with only attachments and the most used websites such as banking and travel sites are optimized for speed, we recommend at least 10 Mbit/s for sending emails. electronics and surf the web.

How much internet speed do you need to download large files?

File download times can be very fast or extremely slow. Here's a graph showing estimated download times based on file size and download speed. Adding latency (congestion) to the mix will vary these times.

How much internet speed do you need to stream a video?

With the introduction of 4K HD programming to view on the latest and greatest 77-inch flat panel TVs available at Costco, the need for adequate internet speed is only increasing. Recommended speeds for watching your favorite shows on all streaming services fall within the following ranges:

• Standard Definition (SD):3-4 Mbit/s
• High Definition (HD):5-8 Mbit/s
• UltraHD-4K:15-25 Mbit/s

Let's say your house has Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV streaming in 4K simultaneously, you'd need 25 Mbps times three = 75 Mbps for streaming video alone.

What should you do if your internet isn't fast enough to work from home?

Managing internet speed can be very challenging. With new devices and new activities like video conferencing, 4K streaming, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, your needs may change. Here are some tips for managing your home network:

• Set parental controlson the home router to schedule the times when people can access the Internet.

• Use the media prioritization or quality of service (QoS) feature.This allows the router to prioritize certain types of traffic, including streaming video and gaming.
• change fromWi-Fi prepare an Ethernet cable.Interference can affect Wi-Fi signals, slowing down your connection.
  
• Place your router in or near your home office.Or, if you can't get your router closer, invest in a Wi-Fi extender or booster.
  

• Check if someone in your home is using the bandwidth.Typical malefactors could be downloading files, playing online games, or streaming videos.

• Switch to a different Internet Service Provider (ISP).If yours doesn't deliver the speeds it promises, it's worth looking into a faster internet connection. (And maybe a better deal.)

• Disable your virtual private network (VPN).A VPN can and probably will slow down your internet speed at least a bit. If it gets in the way of your work and you don't need to encrypt your connection, turn off the VPN and see if your speed improves.
  

Using these controls can help prioritize specific services and family members who need access at certain times of the day.

frequent questions

In summary

Finding the right internet speed for working from home can be difficult. It's important to know how much internet speed you need based on your activity before upgrading your plan.

Yes, a 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) plan is awesome, but what if all you do is surf the web, check email, and stream to SD? Your internet speed requirements would be less than 25 Mbps or so, but you'd pay good money for more speed than you need.