Need assistance with the internet? I'm here to help!
Need assistance with the internet? I'm here to help!
I don't understand the exact Mbps requirement for your home setup. In my house I have: 1 PS5, 1 PS5 slim, 1 PC about 2 Mac Air laptops and 1 IMac. I use both PS5s for gaming and cashing out, the PC is for... well, most things. The laptops are mainly for Roblox and video editing. Can you tell me how smoothly you experience streaming or downloading with these devices? TY
You can run multiple devices simultaneously, but only a few at a time are allowed on your device.
When several devices require internet simultaneously, it's important to understand whether total speed reflects single or multiple connections. For tasks like connecting to a game server, you usually don’t need huge bandwidth, but having more users on the same network improves performance. If many people are online, congestion can slow things down, especially if your ISP caps speeds at a certain limit. It’s wise to grasp how different speeds translate—like 200mbps roughly equals 25MB/s, which is solid for downloads. A 200Mbps connection could handle a 50GB game in about half an hour without throttling, and it can support several 4K Netflix streams at once if there’s no restriction. The ISP’s ability to accommodate more connections and the specific plan details also matter. Sometimes an ISP might offer higher speeds than your paid tier, depending on their flexibility.
Based on what you shared, online gaming mainly depends on low latency rather than high bandwidth. Your main concern should be ping. Streaming services also play a role—like Netflix needing about 25 Mbps per 4K stream. With my connection, I can handle 150 Mbps with a slight drop to 20 Mbps, and I stream multiple TVs at 1080p or lower without issues. It really depends on how much data you use overall. If you're a heavy user, a faster connection might be better. If you're lighter, a slower one could suffice. The 150 Mbps plan is likely chosen for affordability and still meets most needs.
The number of people in the house is important for understanding the situation. One person who is sweating while gaming is far fewer than a household with three teens. (Unless the sweater gamer has a hentai addiction)
So there are 2 Roblox players—Roblox is chill, not really a big deal. My bro uses the PS5 for Fortnite. He’s not the sweatiest, but he plays a lot. I’m out here using both PC and PS5 at the same time like it’s nothing. I’ve won FN Cash Cup twice in a row (no big deal, just saying). I’m sweaty, but not that sweaty. And yeah, at any given time, all the devices are being used except the iMac so stress
If you have non-4K televisions, then each Netflix hulu stwam will be 1/4 the amount of mbps Netflix on their own page says 3 mbps for standard HD 1080p stream Yep, 3. For 4K (and are you really paying that close attention to be able to see any quality difference?) 15-20 mbps So the best way to setup your network is to use a router / wi-fi router that has quality QoS. QoS that is well designed, will allow you to limit bandwidth (mbps) PER-DEVICE. Otherwise, really cheap software will only allow limiting the maximum download / upload, which still allows any device to use as much as the overall limit at all times. Example Let's say you get a 100 mbits/s top speed download plan. This is actually 10 megabyes per seconds download. 1 GB is 1024 MB, so 1000 / 10 = 100 seconds. Many games today are an abaurd size, over 50 GB, which is quite alot, sometimes it's closer to 90 GB. If all games were 90GB and you have a 2 TB hard disk, you can only store 20 or 23 games maximum, which is why I do not appreciate large games. A 50 GB game will take 5,000+ seconds, 6,000 for math simplicity and variable game sizes. About 100 minutes for a 50GB game, not too much to complain about, how long would it take a drive to a store, browse the games, find one you like, and drive back home? About the same amount of time. So 100 mb/s top speed will saturate the connection and all devices have to compete and the router will slow down your download to handle other requests. It depends on how patient you are willing to be. To solve this, you could limit your steam / GOG (good old games), download limit to 90 mb/s, or 9 mbytes/s, leaving 10 mbits for all other devices. It doesn't take much to load a website, and streaming services cache 90+ seconds the show ahead of the current position, so it's not pulling data at a constant rate. More like continous buffering as it is played. What is most important is upload. If anyone wants to send theri voice or video to someone else, such as a VoIP or video conference, a slow upload will make it difficult for others to hear what is trying to be sent, because there is not enough bandwidth to send voice / video consistently. I'd say for voice only 5 mbits/s should be PLENTY. This would allow a 256 kb/s stereo stream at standard settings, cd / dvd sampling rate. For video, I don't really know. There are several different video formats, and it's not as easy to learn how much each requires for various resolutions (size / detail of video) so I'd say 10 mbit/s would be a minimum for sure. So combine that 15 mbit/s upload should be plenty for video conferencing but I shouldn't be recommending because I have no Earthly idea and have never tested it and never had to use it.
I thoroughly reviewed the ISP provider’s website you’re considering. Unless you’ve picked another option, details such as “maximum bandwidth” often include explanations—for instance, a certain percentage of the maximum might represent a guaranteed minimum bandwidth. Even with speeds like 100 Mbps during heavy usage, there’s a possibility of receiving a reliable and smooth connection for users who aren’t uploading or downloading excessively.
Adding to the previous points, be mindful of your ISP's data restrictions. A 1.2 TB cap can become significant if you're frequently streaming or downloading games. Internet type also matters—cellular networks face congestion limits, while Docsis cable may struggle with overloaded nodes. Fiber connections tend to handle these issues better, though they're not completely unaffected.