Discussion Internet Speeds

[ceriumin]

Hey guys, recently I have been wondering about internet speeds, and kind of looking at mine. I recently did a speed test online and I get from 50mbps to 80mbps, and I am wondering, is it actually fast? Also I don't like shaming people and I am simply curious to see all your internet speeds. Also how fast of an internet speed is possible in a household? Cheers!

 

[kanewolf]

Hey guys, recently I have been wondering about internet speeds, and kind of looking at mine. I recently did a speed test online and I get from 50mbps to 80mbps, and I am wondering, is it actually fast? Also I don't like shaming people and I am simply curious to see all your internet speeds. Also how fast of an internet speed is possible in a household? Cheers!

There is no standard. "Fast" is very much dependent on where you live. A large city or suburb will usually have 100mbit to gigabit speeds available. A small town may have 10 - 50Mbit available. If you live very rural you may have to use cellular or satellite internet. That might be < 10Mbit.
50Mbit will support 4 average users for Youtube, HD (not 4K) streaming and general usage.
Your UPLOAD bandwidth is also important. Yours is probably 5 - 10Mbit.
It is also a question of what you are paying for vs what your actual performance is. If you are paying for 250Mbit and only able to achieve 80, then you need to investigate more.

 

[beers]

The real question is, is it fast enough for you?

Most bandwidth perceived value is dependent on workload but also the valuation of time it takes to complete a transfer.

As above your test rate should at least be close to your ISP package rate, what bandwidth tier do you pay for?

 

[bill001g]

As long as you can accomplish what you need it is fast enough.

A lot of this is the ISP trying to get you to pay more money for something you will not use. If they actually expected everyone to use 100% of their bandwidth the system would never work. They are very dependent on people buying say 100mbps and then using only say 10mbps or less on average.

The ISP if they got their way would have everyone pay the maximum amount and still use the least.

If you look at say gigabit plans almost nobody actually "needs" that much bandwidth. Part of this is like many things computer related. People seem to think having bigger number on different things makes them feel they are better or more important than someone who has smaller numbers. They need to brag to their friends seems higher than actual technical functionality.

You really only need very high data rates for file downloads. Even then you have to take a step back and say does it really matter. Sure a game might take 5 minutes rather than 7 minutes to download but on things like steam it will then still spend another 20minutes doing all its install and other crap it does. The download part is only a tiny fraction of the total time.

Other than for illegal activities I can't think of a realistic case that can use a gbit connection on a consistent basis.

 

[alceryes]

@kanewolf's answer is good.

In some areas internet can be tricky. Even in places you would consider 'urban' (like 10-15 miles outside a major city) your choices can be limited to cell, satellite, dial-up, or crappy DSL. If you have 'cable' or 'DSL' internet you most likely have an asynchronous connection, meaning that your download is much faster than your upload. 'Fiber' internet is usually synchronous.

I'm right outside a major city and I have cable internet at 200Mbit/35Mbit, which is fine for my needs.

To get an idea of whether your internet is fast enough for your needs, we would need to know your maximum usage. E.g. 2x4k streaming, 2x online gaming, 4x phone apps, etc.

 

[SamirD]

Other than for illegal activities I can't think of a realistic case that can use a gbit connection on a consistent basis.

With a lot of work at home and home lab situations, even a 1Gbps symmetrical connection can get saturated. A couple of busy ipsec tunnels and some regular file transfers can eat it pretty quickly.

So I manage 4 different connections in 3 different locations, 1 of which is a business. Beyond just the connection, there's also your network that it connects to--your router, switches, etc.--that makes a difference too in the overall experience.

The limiting factor for what we are needing our connections for is the upload bandwidth because I'm using ipsec vpn tunnels across all of mine, and the upload bandwidth becomes the limiting factor--even when the download is quite fast.

I have the following: 600/15, 500/50, 110/10, 110/10. The two 100/10 connections are with the same isp and connect two sites only a few miles apart from each other. Performance there is pretty solid since it's not having to traverse the entire Internet.

On the other hand, the 600/15 and 500/50 are with different isps and span the entire US, so even though they are much higher bandwidth, the 100/10 tunnel can 'feel' faster.

The main thing to make sure is that you are getting what you are paying for, and that you really need that much or are finding value in it. There are very basic plans available from almost every isp between 5-30Mbps for just $30-$40/mo. But when you get almost 10x the bandwidth for $20 in some cases, these don't present a good value and are really intended for those that literally cannot afford much more.