Trying to decide the amount of bandwidth you need for your household can be confusing. We’re here to make it easy with infographics and terms you should know when choosing your speeds!

Internet speed refers to how much data and information can be transferred over the web on a single connection at any given time. When setting up your internet service, it’s crucial that you’re getting the speeds that will satisfy the needs of your household; otherwise, you could run into trouble when trying to do typical everyday functions on devices.

When talking about internet speeds, you may hear the terms bit and byte. A bit is the smallest piece of data that a computer can process, and it’s always 1 or 0, which means it’s on or off. Bits are recorded in megabits per second (mbps). A byte is 8 bits strung together. Most internet companies will tell you your speeds in bits. They will give you speeds such as “100 mbps”, 200, 300, and so on. These are the speeds you’ll want to pay attention to when deciding which is best for your household.

Chances are you may stream your favorite shows, play video games, and scroll or play games on your mobile devices. Did you know that the average family has at least 5 devices connected to the internet at one time? The demand for increased speeds continues as we need to stay connected to our devices for work or school while at home. This number grows as we obtain more “smart”, Wi-Fi enabled items such as appliances, thermostats, lighting, security cameras, and more.

The speeds you need depend on the number of devices, the number of people in your household, and how many people are online at once. Understanding the speeds you need will keep you and your household connected and happy! Here is a chart where you can visually see how many megabits a device typically takes when in use:

Now, you can take the information from that chart, and see what household bandwidth usage looks like for a typical family of 4:

Using these infographics makes it easier to understand why your bandwidth is important and help you decide the amount that is best for you and your household!

Find out what speeds are available to your home.