• Web pages

The average file size of the top 1000 webpages is around 5 MB with the majority of content being images. Using a 2 Mbps connection, you could expect the webpage to fully load within 20 seconds or less. Most browsers display content as soon as they receive it, so your experience will likely be considerably faster.

• Games

Online gaming, including console and PC titles, uses very little bandwidth in actuality. The key factor in “lag” is latency not throughput. Latency is largely affected by the location of the game server in relation to the client. The majority of titles are perfectly happy with a data rate of 1 to 3 Mbps.  With wireless technology, latency can be minimized by maintaining a clear line of site between the client side equipment and the tower. As well as minimizing the potential for wireless radio interference caused by home wireless networking equipment.

• Video

The elephant that broke the camel’s back. Video is the major consumer of data for a home internet service. The following data rates were calculated from information published from a popular video streaming service.

As the quality of the video image rises, the transfer rate needed to maintain video playback rises rather quickly.