Use our calculator to see what speeds you will need to run everything smoothly.

One of the biggest questions we receive is “What plan is right for me?” The amount of speed or bandwidth you need will vary widely depending on the size of your household, the number of users, intended activities, etc. The best way to find out exactly how much bandwidth you need to subscribe to is to enter your household details into our bandwidth calculator tool.

This tool is only a guide, as you can function on a slower plan.

 Bandwidth vs speed: What’s the difference?

Internet providers frequently use the terms “bandwidth” and “speed” interchangeably. In fact, there is a subtle difference between them.

Bandwidth: the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over an Internet connection, as measured in Megabits per second (Mbps).

Speed: the rate at which data can be downloaded (or uploaded) to a given device using that Internet connection, also measured in Megabits per second (Mbps).

Why Is Your Internet Slow?

The Plumbing Metaphor

Think of it this way: data is traveling over the Internet cable like water in a pipe. Bandwidth is the width of that pipe — essentially, the maximum volume of water (data) that can pass through at once. Speed, meanwhile, is the amount of Megabits per second that can be downloaded by a given device using your home network. Speed is more accurately called “throughput,” meaning the rate at which data is “put through” to your laptop/phone/etc.

Megabits per second (Mbps) is the most common measurement of consumer-grade Internet connections. It’s not important to understand what a “bit” is, so long as you’re familiar with the range of speeds on the market.

Internet plans can be anywhere from 1 Mbps all the way up to 1,000 Mbps or more. Anything above 25 Mbps is considered usable for modern applications. Speeds below 20 Mbps can be challenging for a large household. Use the tool to calculate what speed range you should be looking for when shopping for Internet service.

Latency and ping refer to the “lag” on your connection. When you visit a website, all the data you see has to travel from a remote server to your computer. The amount of time it takes the request for that data to leave your home, reach the server, and start returning data is called latency.