What is Internet speed and why is it important?

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Think of Internet speed like water pressure, it’s all about how much volume is moving in a given amount of time. Computers connected to the Internet transfer information to each other in electronic packets. A packet is simply a unit of data. Think of it as a drop of water. Just as more water pressure will deliver more drops of water in a shorter amount of time, a faster Internet connection will deliver more packets in a shorter amount of time but just like a water hose, the type, size and physical capacity of the Internet connection makes a difference to how much data can pass.
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The volume of data transferred through a connection in a given amount of time is your connection’s Internet speed.

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For example, you could technically wash your hair with water barely trickling out of the shower head but having enough pressure to quickly rinse the shampoo out makes all the difference. As far as Internet speed goes, you could technically stream a video by watching one or two frames at a time and then waiting for it to buffer for a few minutes, but nobody wants to do that.

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How much speed do you need?

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Knowing your Internet speed and how it compares to recommendations from Internet-based services, like Netflix and Hulu, can help you get the most out of your connection. For example, you need a minimum download speed of 3 Megabits per second to watch a single video stream in clear, standard definition (SD). The best Internet speed for HD streaming is 5Mbps, and if you go all the way up to 4K streaming, or ultra HD, your bandwidth should start at 25Mbps.

Different households can have drastically different Internet needs. A single person who uses the Internet only to access social media won’t need as much Internet speed as a family of five streaming Netflix in every room.

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