When buying a PC, you probably thought about how you would subsequently connect to the Internet. It is impossible to survive without the World Wide Web modern world. Many people not only use the network to search for information, but also to communicate and work. It is much more convenient to transfer data and files via e-mail or Skype.
But in order to avoid problems when downloading files or loading pages, you should know what Internet speed is needed for professional and personal needs.
Speed detection
- Information received or sent from your PC to the Internet is measured in bits, 8 bits is a byte, 1000 bits is a kilobit, and 1000 bytes is a kilobyte.
- For each provider, connection speed is measured in megabits transferred per second. In order to find out the download time for files whose size is shown in megabytes or gigabytes, you need to convert megabits to megabytes. After that, you need to divide the file size by this speed.
- So, for example, if your connection speed is 10 Mbps, then dividing by 8, we get a speed of 1.25 Mbps. At this speed, a 700 MB movie will be downloaded in 560 seconds, i.e. in 10 minutes
- Any tariff plan specifies maximum download and upload speeds. And usually these two indicators are not the same. This is called an unbalanced connection. It is good for personal needs such as downloading movies and music.
- A higher download rate is required for webmasters who must transfer files to their resource at the proper speed. Or when asking what speed is needed for Skype, you should also think about the increased download rate. After all, it is through Skype that many people transfer large files that must be uploaded on time.
- Also, an increased download value can be selected by people who distribute torrent trackers and need to transfer movies and music in large files.
- For other people, it is normal for the download speed to be several times higher than the upload speed. After all, this indicator is suitable for downloading movies, music, software or games.
- One more important point maybe what internet speed is needed for a wireless connection, or WiFi? Each provider must provide a range of wireless plans, where you choose the speed. For such a connection, appropriate equipment is required, which must be provided by the provider.
- The indicated speed will not always be equal to the actual speed, because... its parameters are affected by line load and server features. The Internet itself has a number of online resources where you can check the speed of your connection.
What Internet speed is considered normal? Let's answer this question briefly, in numbers and without unnecessary water. Internet speed is considered normal when it allows you to fully perform the necessary tasks when working on a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
The simple answer looks like this: the higher the Internet speed, the better. But if everything were so simple, then you wouldn’t come here for the answer, right?
The thing is that not everyone has the opportunity to connect to the Internet at a speed of, say, 100 Mbit/sec for technical or financial reasons. Therefore, in such a situation, people ask the question - What Internet speed is considered normal?
In this situation, first of all, it is worth deciding why the Internet is connected. If you just scour the pages of social networks, then this is one thing. But if you need to upload videos to YouTube or download torrents every day, then this is completely different.
It is also worth considering the number of devices simultaneously connected to the network. Let's say my parents only have two smartphones and I sometimes drop by to visit with a laptop, so 5 Mbit/s is enough for them. But in our office there are many times more simultaneously connected devices, which is why the speed of our Internet connection is 100 Mbit/sec.
If you have an ordinary family of three or four people and the same a small amount of devices that require simultaneous Internet access, you can rely on the data below.
What Internet speed is considered normal for social networks?
In this case, 1 Mbit/s is enough
What Internet speed is considered normal for organizing streams?
The minimum values look something like this:
- 480 p – 5 Mbit/sec.
- 720 p – 10 Mbit/sec.
- 1080p – 20 Mbit/sec.
What Internet speed is considered normal for online games?
For online games high speed not that important. They care more about ping. Read more about ping at.
And the speed for games is enough even 1 Mbit/sec.
What Internet speed is considered normal for watching online videos?
To watch online video, the speed requirements will be higher than for online games and will be approximately the following values:
- SD video (360 p, 480 p) – 2 Mbit/sec.
- HD video (720 p) – 5 Mbit/sec.
- Full-HD (1080 p) – 8 Mbit/sec.
- Ultra-HD (2160 p) – 25 Mbit/sec.
What Internet speed is considered normal for video calls?
To carry out video communication via, for example, Skype, the following Internet speed values are sufficient:
- voice calls – 100 Kbps;
- video calls – 300 Kbps;
- video calls (HD standard) – 5 Mbit/s;
- voice video communication (five participants) – 4 Mbit/s (reception) 512 Kbit/s (transmission).
This is the approximate picture that emerges. But it is important to consider that Internet speed is not stable and has spikes and dips. Therefore, to ensure a guaranteed solution to the tasks, it is advisable to multiply these values by two.
If you already have an Internet connection, then you can check its speed right now using our service
I hope our team, and I in particular, helped you gain an approximate understanding of the question normal speed Internet for your needs.
Best regards, Speedtest 24 team.
We are glad that you are with us!
In the 21st century - the era of digital technology, the global network has become not a luxury, but a necessary tool, both at work and at home, while displacing its main competitor - the television. This is due to the fact that here you can watch news, play games, listen to music online, and the choice here is not limited, compared to a TV, where you can only turn on certain channels that are provided by the provider or the signal is received using an antenna. However, people who are not well versed in connection issues may not always understand what Internet speed is considered normal? and will it be enough for certain tasks (watching movies, reading news sites, playing games, etc.)?
In order to consider this issue, it is first worth understanding how Internet speed is calculated. To understand this, it is absolutely not necessary to get into the jungle of discrete mathematics and information theory. It is only worth noting that many people confuse the concept of megabyte and megabit. The first definition is a unit of calculation for the physical space on a hard drive, and the second defines the connection speed, that is, they describe completely different sizes measurements. It can be noted that at a speed of 8 megabits, 1 megabyte of information will be downloaded per second. That is, these concepts should be evaluated and calculated with a proportion like 8:1.
Speed for mobile devices
Many people do not use a computer, but still actively use a phone or tablet to access the Internet. Typically, the speed of 3G technology is quite enough for watching videos, listening to music and radio online. It is worth considering that if you need to perform many tasks, then displaying the necessary information may take a long time. If we talk about home Internet, then we can say with complete confidence that 1Mbit is quite enough for mobile device for watching videos, visiting websites, listening to music, using instant messengers, etc.
Optimal speed for online games and videos
Cinema sites always have films of varying quality. If we talk about HD resolution, then it can be argued that in this case the minimum speed should be at least 8 megabits, although UltraHD will require a connection speed of around 30 Mbit. But here you also need to take into account the fact that the placement of the site on the server may be far away, and accordingly, more time is needed to receive and send the signal, and in this case, even high speed will not guarantee viewing without freezes and slowdowns.
For online games, it is very important to have a reasonable speed indicator, because if the ping is high, a person simply will not be able to respond to certain actions in a timely manner. But with all this, for popular toys such as World of Tanks, Warcraft, Dota, Counter Strike, 1 megabit of speed is enough for a stable connection. But the user must understand that during the game it is always recommended to close torrent programs, because they greatly reduce the speed.
It is also important that a wireless connection works worse than a wired one due to the fact that the probability of packet loss is higher. For example, if a person uses a satellite connection to the Internet, then its speed can be compared with a wired connection, which is half as fast in this parameter.
Not every provider can offer such marks for this indicator, although many are already laying fiber optic highways, with the help of which such criteria may be quite realistic.
Similar speeds are necessary if you connect a TV at home with high resolution, modern and productive desktop devices (computers and laptops). Also, it is not unimportant that if there are several gadgets in the house, the speed will be divided between them, and accordingly for a normal connection to global network this needs to be taken into account.
Well, what is worth paying attention to is that if a user needs the Internet to visit sites, social networks, viewing ordinary resources, then such marks for the 30 Mbit parameter are absolutely not necessary, 1 megabit will be enough. However, for high-resolution, constant downloading of other content and files, really high speeds are needed. It all depends on the user himself and the tasks he sets for himself.
Internet speed measurement
To calculate the connection speed it is not necessary to use additional software. It is enough to visit one of the service sites on the Internet and solve this problem. It is worth considering the fact that before performing this operation you need to close all programs that in one way or another use Internet speed (torrent programs, online chats, instant messengers, browsers), and this must be done on all devices connected to this channel .
There are quite a few similar sites for calculating speed, but among the most popular and accurate are . To calculate the speed, visit this resource and click “Begin test”.
After a certain time, the screen will display data on download speed, upload speed, as well as ping - the stability of the transmission speed of data packets (whether data is lost when receiving or sending). In addition, in this way you can determine the external IP address that is currently assigned to this connection point.
In addition to this service, you can also highlight...
Many users are concerned about one very popular question: What Internet speed is needed to watch high-quality videos online? But in essence, this question is part of the following question: at what speed should I choose a home Internet tariff?
Basically, all Internet providers in Russia offer home Internet tariffs with speeds from 30 Mbit/sec to 100 Mbit/sec, respectively, and the cost of these tariffs varies. And it is quite logical that the user wonders which tariff to choose? But the trick is that the service consumer is poorly versed in all these numbers and designations (Mbit/sec, GB, etc.), and providers, for obvious reasons, do not explain much, because it is more profitable for them to sell the most expensive tariff with the maximum speed.
And so, as in choosing any material product, before buying anything, we need to determine our needs and only after that choose a product that can satisfy these needs.
Let's consider the process of choosing Internet speed for watching online high-quality Full HD videos. Our need has been identified (we need Internet speed that will allow us to watch movies online with a resolution of 1920*1080p, without lags or freezing).
Now we need to understand the technical side of the issue.
Minimum Internet speed for Full HD movies.
Here I must clarify one thing: 1920*1080p resolution is not a unit of measurement for bit rate. To watch two identical movies with a resolution of 1920*1080p, you may need to completely different meanings minimum internet speed. Since these two seemingly identical films may have different frame rates, the table below will help you better understand the essence of the above.
| Broadcast type | Video bitrate, standard frame rate (24,25,30) | Video bitrate, high frequency frames (48,50,60) |
|---|---|---|
| 2160p (4k) | 35-45 Mbit/s | 53-68 Mbit/s |
| 1440p(2k) | 16 Mbit/s | 24 Mbit/s |
| 1080p | 8 Mbit/s | 12 Mbit/s |
| 720p | 5 Mbit/s | 7.5 Mbit/s |
| 480p | 2.5 Mbit/s | 4 Mbit/s |
| 360p | 1 Mbit/sec | 1.5 Mbit/s |
And so the table shows the recommended minimum speed for watching online videos on YouTube; we are interested in 1080p resolution. Looking at these values, we can conclude that to watch a video recorded with a frame rate of (24,25,30), we need a speed of 8 Mbit/sec, and for video with a frame rate of (48,50,60) we need at least 12 Mbps Thus, in order for us to watch any video we like on the YouTube website and not worry about the bitrate of this video, we will need an Internet speed of at least 12 Mbit/sec, but that’s not all.
The fact is that these values in the table take into account only the speed that is needed to play the video, but we need to take into account a number of other nuances.
The difference is the declared speed of the tariff and the real one.
Without getting into the weeds, I’ll just say that the stated Internet speed according to the tariff may differ both up and down. If you take a little time and read Additional information to any home Internet tariff from any provider, then you will notice the pretext up to (up to 30 Mbit/s, up to 60 Mbit/s, etc.). In the explanation you will read something like the following screenshot from the Beeline website:
But how can you say that, if my tariff is up to 100 Mbit/s, then in fact, according to the information described above, my speed can be 50 Mbit/s and even 30 Mbit/s and this seems to be normal because the provider honestly states this?
Yes, but not so, I will answer you. At the moment (short period of time), of course, this may be the case, but if the speed is constantly lower than stated in the tariff, then it makes sense to think about changing the provider. And here again the question arises, what is the permissible deviation from the declared speed after which the alarm can be sounded.
If you have ever contacted us regarding Internet speed issues, technical support your provider, you may have heard the following data regarding home Internet speed errors. So, when connecting directly via cable, a difference from the declared speed of up to 10% is allowed, that is, if your tariff is up to 100 Mbit/s, and when measuring the speed you get 90 Mbit/s, then this is within normal limits and there is no need to panic.
At the same time, if you connect via a router via Wi-Fi, then due to the peculiarities of the technology, an error of up to 30% is allowed, and with the same tariff of up to 100 Mbit/s, the norm is 70 Mbit/s.
Minimum speed for online video, taking into account technical requirements. errors.
Thus, we must add an error rate to our minimum speed of 12 Mbit/sec. We will consider the maximum error to be 30% when using a router. It turns out that the speed according to our tariff should be at least 18 Mbit/sec.
So we have determined the minimum home Internet speed for watching movies online in high quality, rounding the value we can say that 20 Mbit/s is quite enough. But this is not the end yet, this speed is quite enough to watch a movie on one device, but what if your family members want to watch different movies on the same device at the same time? different devices connected via a router, play online games, chat on Skype, etc. In this situation, a speed of 20 Mbit/s will clearly not be enough and you will need a tariff with a higher speed.
Optimal Internet speed for online video.
Choose a tariff with a speed of up to 30 Mbit/sec (a reserve will not hurt), this speed is optimal for comfortable watching online movies without slowdowns or interruptions, on one device.
For simultaneous viewing on two or three gadgets, you will need a tariff of up to 60 Mbit/sec.
If you have big family with a bunch of gadgets, then your choice is without a doubt a tariff of 100 Mbit/sec or higher.
In addition to all of the above, real speed which you receive may be influenced by a number of other indicators that I talked about in the article, I recommend reading it to supplement the information already received.
Network users often ask what Internet speed is considered normal, what it depends on, and how to increase it. There is no clear answer to these questions. Normal or optimal data transfer speed is a relative concept.
Let's find out why.
How is speed measured?
Bandwidth, or Internet channel speed, is an indicator of the amount of data that was received or transmitted to the network per unit of time.
The amount of information transmitted on the network is calculated in kilobits or megabits per second.
Abbreviations allowed:
- 1 kilobit/second – Kb/sec or Kbit/sec
- 1 megabit/second – Mb/sec or Mbit/sec
Important! While the data transfer rate must be specified in bits, the data size must be specified in bytes (kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes).
For example, a video file in HD format weighs from 700 MB to 1.4 GB, in Full HD format – from 4 to 14 GB.
On a note!
1 byte = 8 bits.
1 megabyte = 8 megabits
1 megabyte/second = 8 megabits/second
Reasons for low internet speed
Explanations for why a movie takes a long time to load or a game lags vary.
- A provider that provides Internet services.
The tariff plan specifies the conditions that real life may vary. - Number of users of the communication channel.
As the audience increases, the load on the channel increases. - Equipment.
A low-quality router can “eat up” part of the traffic. - Loaded with unnecessary “junk” programs.
- Virus infection.
- Your device settings.
- Programs running in the background. These include antiviruses and extensions that block advertising.
Table: what this or that Internet speed is suitable for
Additional aggravating circumstances may affect channel capacity. Eg:
- The problem is not on your side - the server of the site from which you download or watch the series is overloaded. At the time of peak load, it will not be able to transfer data faster, even if your tariff plan allows you to receive it at a higher speed.
- The home channel is occupied by several users.
If at the same time someone from home is playing in a multi-user online game, someone else just received a video call, and you are trying to download a series, then everyone will feel the deterioration in the quality of data transmission.
How to measure internet speed
Exist different ways measure the real Internet speed on your computer.
1. Take measurements using the Speedtest.net program.
Click on the "BEGIN TEST" or "Start" button and the program will provide the results in the form of a graph.
Speedtest measures 3 indicators:
- Ping means the time it takes for a signal to travel from your server to someone else’s and back. The smaller it is, the better quality Internet connections. It is generally accepted that ping should not exceed 100 ms (milliseconds).
The gaming audience is sensitive to this indicator. The lower the ping, the shorter the pause in the game. - Download speed (incoming) is the most important parameter for the user and basic for the provider. It is based on this indicator that the provider creates tariff plans. The higher it is, the more expensive the service package is.
- Upload speed (outgoing) - this indicator is of less interest to the user - it has little effect on the download process. Outgoing throughput is always lower than incoming, which seems logical.
2. To see the picture in dynamics - during the day, week, month - use the DU Meter utility. This - professional tool, it is used in website performance testing. After the trial period expires, the service becomes paid. Download DU Meter: du-meter.en.com
Important! High-speed Internet does not always mean/guarantee a high-quality and stable connection.
The average throughput is 256 Kbps, but with a good ping it can be more comfortable than 100 Mbps, but with pings of half a second.
What speed do you need?
Not all users know that they themselves are able to influence the increase in home Internet speed. If after monitoring it is not good enough, try a few steps:
- Clean your computer from unnecessary bandwidth hogging programs.
- Set a Wi-Fi password without fail so that “ uninvited guests"We couldn't connect to you.
- Unload your device as much as possible - turn off all applications not currently in use, close unnecessary tabs, exit instant messengers.
- Increase the port bandwidth on your device, which defaults to 9600 bps.
Step-by-step instructions for users of Windows OS devices.
