What Is the Recommended Minimum Speed to Watch TV Online?

Featured blog by Kerry Blake, MS Office expert, trainer and lecturer.

Internet service providers wants to sell you a faster internet connection, and they will make it pretty simple for you; “pay more every month and get faster Internet speed”. But the big question is, do you really need faster internet?

Well, different entertainment providers have different requirements, and there are so many options when it comes to internet speed, and sometimes it’s very difficult to determine or know exactly how much more you need to enjoy your preferred live TV show online or even download your favourite movie.

The answer to how much more internet speed you need lies on your online habits. So, if your online habit consists running multiple programs or connecting several devices, then you will need higher bandwidth as compared to someone who goes online just to stream single TV show or other activity that is considered to be light in internet usage.

Depending on the length of the program, video or show, and its resolution, i.e., whether standard or HD, you may require more bandwidth with better quality. Take an example of Netflix, one of a Multinational provider of on-demand internet streaming media. According to their site, to view a TV-length video, they recommend a 3 Mbps of download speed for DVD quality.

If you need to reach higher quality, then you will need to look for at speeds of more than 3 Mbps, say for instance 5 or 7 Mbps. For streaming, Netflix recommends 5 Mbps. Other services, like Amazon Prime, require similar bandwidths for their HD,1080p Streams.

Netflix and Amazon Prime both offers one month free service – be sure to test it before you purchase subscription, make sure you can enjoy it before you spend money!

Typically, the minimum connection speed of at least 2Mbps is required to enjoy watching TV online provided by most internet providers, but for successful live streaming such as HD or 3D, you definitely require higher internet speeds.

How to Know Your Current Internet Speed?

Knowing the internet speed that you require is very imperative because many internet providers charge premiums for faster speed. You may need to have a look at your internet provider internet service bills. You can also test your current speed by using speed test websites.

It is important to remember that the internet speed is usually measured at the device. This typically means that if you test your internet speed on your PC, and you find that it’s significantly lower than your plan, then the problem could be the connection to your home network router. Also, it is recommended not to use wi-fi when checking your internet speed.

Improve Your Connection

There are a lot of tricks that could help you improve your internet speed. You probably know that wi-fi performance can be bad on some days, so, connecting your computer with cable should give better performance. If you want to use other device and wi-fi one trick that might help you out would be restarting your router.

It is important to know that having several devices connected at all time could also slow your internet. You knew that but I just wanted to note it.