What Speed do I need?

Source: Preseem ISP Network Report 2025
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In fact, the median user (typical of “most” users) does
not use much more data as the speed plan increases,
particularly above about 50 Mbps. This likely suggests
that gigabit plans are not required for the vast majority
of subscribers.
In fact, the median user (typical of “most” users) does not use much more data as the speed plan increases,particularly above about 50 Mbps. This likely suggests that gigabit plans are not required for the vast majority of subscribers.
  • Web pages

The average file size of the top 1000 webpages is around 5-20 MB with the majority of content being images. Using a 5 Mbps connection, you could expect the webpage to fully load within 8-30 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.  Fixed-wireless technology provides consistent and stable latency provided the connection maintains 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

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.

QualityData UsageTransfer Rate
Low .3 GB/hr 716kbps
Medium (SD) .7 GB/hr 1.67Mbps
High 1 GB/hr 2.39Mbps
HD 2.8 GB/hr 6.68Mbps

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

  • File Downloads (Games and Movies)

Large file downloads like games and movies do not care about latency, but are very much affected by the download speed of your connection.  As the size of downloads, like games, have increased exponentially in recent years so does the time it takes to download.  Where you used to be able to download a game in a few hours, now games can take days if your connection is too slow.  Typical modern Xbox/PS5 games are between 50-80GB.  However, some popular games like Call of Duty can be 150GB or more.

File SizeDownload SpeedTime to Download
50GB 10Mbps 12hrs
50GB 25Mbps 4.75hrs
50GB 100Mbps 1.25hrs
50GB 200Mbps

35min

150GB 10Mbps 33hrs
150GB 25Mbps 14hrs
150GB 100Mbps 3.5hrs
150GB 200Mbps 1.75hrs