What is a good broadband speed?
Simplifydigital's guide to the best broadband speed for you.
Broadband download and upload speeds are an important factor which will affect the choice and price of your broadband package.
Broadband download speed is the headline speed quoted in broadband advertising and refers to the speed of transfer down the broadband connection to your PC. Broadband upload speed is also important as it affects the speed of posting content from your PC onto the internet (e.g. photos on Photobox). But broadband upload speeds are not widely quoted by broadband providers
Remember, home broadband download speeds are quoted as "up to" speeds. This reflects the fact that you are very unlikely to receive the quoted broadband speed in reality. This can be due to a number of reasons including your distance from the telephone exchange and whether or not your broadband comes over copper cable or fibre optic cable.
Try our unique Simplifydigital broadband smart search tool to see available broadband speeds in your area. You can also see the best broadband deals including the availability of cheap broadband or even free broadband in your area.
So just what is a good broadband speed? Let's look at broadband speeds & what they are suitable for:
2Mb
This broadband speed should be good for:
* General internet surfing - 2Mb broadband is around 4 times faster than dial up internet
* Sending & checking your emails
* Internet shopping
* Downloading songs - Should take around a minute to download
This broadband speed may not be so good for:
* Downloading large files or high resolution photos
* Downloading movies - Could take up to 90 minutes to download
* Multiple users on the same home network
* Streaming on-demand TV from BBC iPlayer
* Online gaming
8Mb - 10Mb
These broadband speeds should be good for:
* General internet surfing
* Sending & checking your emails
* Internet shopping
* Downloading songs
* Downloading large files or high resolution photos
* Downloading movies - Standard movie should download within 30 minutes
* Streaming on-demand TV from BBC iPlayer - Not as quick as we would like, but it should run smoothly
These broadband speeds may not be so good for:
* Multiple users on the same home network
* Online gaming
16Mb
This broadband speed should be good for:
* General internet surfing
* Sending & checking your emails
* Internet shopping
* Downloading songs
* Downloading large files or high resolution photos
* Downloading movies - A standard movie should download within 30 minutes
* Streaming on-demand TV from BBC iPlayer - Runs quicker
This broadband speed may not be so good for:
* Multiple users on the same home network
* Online gaming
20Mb-24Mb - Super-fast broadband
This broadband speed should be good for:
* General internet surfing
* Sending & checking your emails
* Internet shopping
* Downloading songs
* Downloading large files or high resolution photos
* Downloading movies - Much faster
* Streaming on-demand TV from BBC iPlayer - Far better experience with this broadband speed
* Multiple users on the same home network - General use
* Online gaming - Not the best performance available for multiplayer gaming
This broadband speed may not be so good for:
* Multiple users on the same home network downloading and watching on-demand TV from sources such as BBC iPlayer. The quality would decline if more users were on the home broadband network, especially if the users were watching on large screen formats.
* Multiplayer online gaming
50Mb - Super-fast broadband
This broadband speed should be good for:
* General internet surfing
* Sending & checking your emails
* Internet shopping
* Downloading songs - you could download a 60Mb album in 10 seconds
* Downloading large files or high resolution photos - In seconds!
* Downloading movies - Should download a single movie within one hour
* Streaming on-demand TV from BBC iPlayer - Almost seamless experience with this broadband speed
* Multiple users on the same home network - General use and watching on-demand content
* Online gaming - Smooth and responsive
* Multiplayer online gaming
* Watching on-demand HD content on your large screen LCD TV by connecting your PC or laptop
This broadband speed may not be so good for:
*Anyone not living in a Virgin Media cable broadband area.
Virgin Media super-fast broadband is delivered using cable broadband. Cable broadband is delivered by Virgin Media on fibre optic cables; fibre optic cables can carry huge amounts of data and allow for higher broadband download speeds.
At the moment Virgin Media are the only broadband provider out there that offers this service as they are the only ones with a fibre optic broadband network. But many other broadband providers such as Be Broadband are working on ways to combine their existing 24Mb broadband DSL network into a 48Mb broadband network.
And to the future of super-fast broadband speeds...
200Mb - Super-fast broadband
In Spring 2009 Virgin Media announced that they were to begin a 6 month pilot to test their 200Mb broadband service to a select group of customers in Ashford, Kent.
Virgin Media are using their FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) technology and effectively combining five 50Mb connections to deliver this blisteringly fast connection. If successful, it will be the fastest speeds of internet reached in the world using this kind of technology (beaten only by fibre channel connections directly into the home). Whilst this technology is in the preliminary stages, it's another positive sign that broadband in the UK is moving in the right direction.
For more information on broadband speed, take a look at the Simplifydigital guides to broadband speed and how to increase your broadband speed on our website.
If you need even more information on broadband speeds and would like some free and impartial advice, give our broadband experts a call on 0800 5424 704.
