What broadband speed do I really need?
Gigabit packages are sold hard, but most households never touch the limit. Here is an honest look at what each speed actually covers.
Updated 2 July 2026 · about 6 minutes to read
Speed is the easiest thing to put on a poster, so it is the thing you get sold. In practice, the number of people using the connection at the same time matters far more than the headline figure — and beyond a certain point, extra speed changes nothing you can feel.
Roughly what each activity uses
These are steady, real-world figures, not peak bursts.
- Web browsing, email, online banking: 5 Mbps
- HD video call: 3-4 Mbps
- HD streaming (one screen): 5-8 Mbps
- 4K streaming (one screen): about 25 Mbps
- Online gaming: under 5 Mbps, but very sensitive to delay
How to work out your own number
Add up the busiest realistic evening in your house: two 4K screens, a video call and a games console is about 60 Mbps. Double it for headroom and background updates, and you land near 120 Mbps. That is a comfortable target for a family of four.
A 1000 Mbps package will not make that evening feel any different. What it does buy you is faster large downloads and room to grow.
The number that matters more than speed
Consistency beats peak speed. A steady 100 Mbps that never wobbles is a better experience than a 900 Mbps line that stutters every evening. Ask about typical evening speeds, not just the maximum, and ask what the upload speed is — video calls live on upload.
And the number nobody mentions
Whatever you buy arrives at a box on your wall. If the Wi-Fi inside your house cannot carry it to the back bedroom, you have paid for speed you will never see. Fixing coverage is usually cheaper than upgrading the package.
In short
- ✓ Add up your busiest evening, then double it — that's your target.
- ✓ Upload speed matters for video calls; it's rarely on the poster.
- ✓ Coverage inside the house decides how much of the speed you actually get.