What is the average download speed for cable internet

Anything faster than 10 Mbps is a good enough internet speed for Wi-Fi, but you can have Wi-Fi with pretty much any internet speed. Just keep in mind that connecting by Wi-Fi can dilute your internet speeds due to distance, interference, or the number of devices connected to the signal.

Wired Ethernet connections take better advantage of your bandwidth. So if you have a slower internet connection, it might be better to connect your main devices with a wired connection for the best possible performance.

How much internet speed do I need? Residential Start Business Start. How many people in your household work from home? What video quality do you use for streaming TV and movies? I don't stream video HD 4K. How intensely does your household participate in online gaming? No online gaming Casual and recreational Seriously competitive Professional level. Does your household download large files from the cloud or via the internet?

No Yes, occasionally Yes, frequently. Our minimum speed recommendation for you: 00 mbps. Find providers near you Enter your ZIP to see internet speeds and providers available in your area. Search by zip code Search Providers. What is a good internet speed? What is fast internet? Fast internet is a connection with speeds of at least Mbps. How to calculate the internet speed you need Your internet speed requirements depend on two main things: How you use the internet How many other people are using your internet How do you use the internet?

Internet bandwidth vs. How many Mbps you need per device for common internet activities. How many people use your internet connection? The slowest countries in the region were Turkmenistan also slowest in the world — 0. Both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were among the slowest ten places in the world.

There are 16 qualifying countries in the Eastern Europe region, all of which are in the top half of the table, with one Hungary making it into the top ten, and six others in the top Overall the region averages The fastest three were Hungary The slowest three were North Macedonia The 15 countries in the Near East measured for this year's speed league table span the middle to the bottom of the table.

The average for speed for the region is The fastest countries were Israel The slowest were Yemen 0. Northern Africa recorded the lowest overall internet speeds as a collective region, with all six qualifying countries in the bottom half of the table.

Mauritania 2. Morocco Five countries were measured in Northern America, all of which were in the top quarter of the table. Bermuda Meanwhile, Canada Of the 15 qualifying countries in Oceania, most were in the bottom half of the speed table. The region has an overall average of Leading the regional table here is New Zealand The slowest in the region were the Federated States of Micronesia 1.

The 13 countries measured in South America span from the middle to the lower end, with a regional average speed of The fastest internet in South America can be found in Brazil Venezuela 2. Meanwhile, Ethiopia 1. All 29 countries measured in Western Europe were in the top half of the table, countries in the region taking eight of the top ten spots in the world for internet speed.

The regional average speed of Impressive average speeds were measured for regional top-three Jersey The slowest places in the region were Faroe Islands The acceleration of the fastest countries in the world has finally plateaued this year as they reach FTTP pure fibre saturation. Increases in speed among the elite performers, then, can be attributed in greater part to uptake in many cases than to network upgrades.

Some providers, like Virgin Media , offer much faster fibre broadband connections that go right up to Mbps. Choosing a faster speed can help future proof your broadband usage, particularly if you have growing kids who are spending more and more time online.

There may also be peak times when everyone wants to get online, usually between 4pm and 8pm when everyone has come home for the day. Some fibre optic deals now offer speeds of up to or Mbps now available both from Virgin Media, and also BT and Vodafone in limited areas. The likely culprits for using more than their fair share of the broadband are serious gamers, who often need to download huge files containing new games and updates, and 4K streamers who want to watch movies and TV to their 4K television via the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube consuming anything up to 40Mbps of your home broadband connection.

As a general rule, you should add an extra 30Mbps of broadband provision for each person in your household that downloads games to a console, PC, or tablet, or who streams TV shows in 4K, or make sure that your broadband deal includes an average speed of at least Mbps to cover all bases. It determines how fast information from the internet can be transferred to devices in your home. The higher the number of Mb or Mbps, the faster the speed.

For standard broadband , a good average speed is 11Mbps. Fibre optic broadband typically has speeds of between 30Mbps and 80Mbps, and ultrafast fibre optic can reach 1Gbps Mbps.

Megabits are sometimes confused with megabytes, which are used to describe both computer hard drive space and memory storage capacity. This will tell you the download and upload speeds you have with your existing broadband deal. This may mean that you also need to select a different type of broadband. Test your broadband speed. Home layout — The arrangement of your furniture, the thickness of your walls, and also nearby electronic equipment can all disrupt or weaken the wireless signal transmitted by your broadband router.

You should also place your router close to the centre of your home, away from walls and doors and at a good height, to ensure the best signal coverage. Multiple connected devices — The more devices that connect to your wireless broadband router at any one time, the more likely your speed will be affected.

If you are simply browsing the web and reading email, the quality of your internet performance is unlikely to be heavily affected. If, however, you regularly download files, update software, and stream music or HD video, the speed will drop for everyone across the network.

Distance from the cabinet — If your standard or fibre optic broadband is sluggish, it could simply be that your home is situated a long distance away from the nearest cabinet where the copper or fibre optic cables are connected. In this case, switching to a fibre connection will help. Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Tell us why! More from Lifewire.

What Is a Modem in Computer Networking? Understanding Broadband Internet Speeds. Methods to Test Network Connection Speed. The 9 Best Internet Service Providers of Your Privacy Rights.

To change or withdraw your consent choices for Lifewire. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.