What speeds do I need for streaming or large downloads?

If you’re asking this question, you’re already sick of the wheel of constant buffering. To get the best possible performance, you generally want download speeds at least as fast as the following:

See more | Acceptable download speed, upload speed, and latency?

The ideal download speed for video streaming depends on what quality you’d like to stream in, how many devices will be watching at once, and which service you’re using. The last bit can get a little complicated. For 4K video, Netflix (25Mbps), YouTube (20Mbps) Hulu (16Mbps), and Amazon Prime Video (15Mbps) all have different minimum recommendations.

Fortunately, the Federal Communications Commission has general recommendations. For streaming video, they recommend a minimum of 4Mbps for standard definition, 8Mbps for HD, and 25Mbps for 4K UltraHD. You can go lower if you know you’re only going to stream 4K on Hulu, but these numbers are a good baseline.

You’ll also want to factor in how many people will be streaming at once. 50Mbps is fine for one or two people, but if three or four are streaming you’re gonna want to go higher. It’s hard to have a connection that’s too fast, so overshoot if you can.

Also read | Broadband speeds: what you need to know

What download speed do I need to download games?

Technically, there isn’t a required speed for downloading games. If you want to download all 182 gigabytes of Call of Duty®: Black Ops – Cold War on a 1Mbps connection, you can do it. You’d be playing just over 400 hours later.

Downloading any big file is the area where the best speed is typically the fastest you can get. Big downloads take up a ton of bandwidth and can make the internet unusable for anyone else on the network if your speed is slow. With the recommended 4K minimum (25Mbps), Black Ops would take 18 hours. And that’s only if absolutely nothing else is using the internet.

100Mbps is the lowest you should go if you’re downloading large files regularly. Anything above 250Mbps is the sweet spot. A 1000Mbps (or gigabit) connection is the premier option. With those speeds, Black Ops would be done in around an hour, and you’d have plenty of bandwidth to spare.

Also read | Your internet connection: broadband speeds explained