150Mbps - 400Mbps

By thisdude
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thisdude

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I'm in the process of moving and choosing a cable/internet package. And could use some advice/recommendations/tips on just how fast of internet speed do I really need.

At the most/peak family times 3 smart tvs streaming some service (including an xbox), 1 laptop and 2 smartphones all connected to wifi in the house. Again at the most and this wouldn't be a regular thing.

I'm trying to be frugal in paying for a plan. So what do you think would be sufficient or even best, 150Mbps or 400Mbps. Thanks!

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Stokkolm

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Yup, I would agree. I get away with more devices than that on a 15Mbps connection. The only problem that I really have is relatively long downloads of games. Hoping to get an upgrade soon. We're on DSL and maxed out, but they're trenching fiber to the house next week!

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thisdude

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All my provider says is that 400Mbps is better for a "bigger household" whatever that means. No one downloads huge files expect for buying a game every now and then and that's not a critical thing such as just being able to have internet service. We're mostly web surfers and TV streamers and video gaming on the weekends in our house.

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SnoopZ

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If it is too low and everyone is streaming etc, it will affect download speed, maybe where you're  from it is generally alot higher than in the UK so you will probably be ok but it is an important valid question and I wouldn't  signup without knowing it. 

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thisdude

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2 minutes ago, SnoopZ said:

If it is too low and everyone is streaming etc, it will affect download speed, maybe where you're  from it is generally alot higher than in the UK so you will probably be ok but it is an important valid question and I wouldn't  signup without knowing it. 

Right like if someone is uploading a big file it'll start to slow down what everyone is watching. Yeah I appreciate the question for sure, thanks! Yeah right now between everyone a Microsoft Word document for school or some photos taken on the phone uploaded to the store we get photos printed are par for the course for uploading. Now that certainly could change with interests in the house and would be something to think about then.

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+BudMan MVC

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Upload speed is more than just if something is uploading something...

 

You do understand that download something at speed X requires a certain amount of upload speed Y.. You have to send the ACKs back.. So while while if only a few streams you might be able to max out the download they say you have with the upload they provide - say a 100/10 plan... But if you have say 5 clients all doing downloads, that 10 might not be enough to get 100 down... You fill up the upload pipe, etc..  So now vs your clients sharing 100, maybe they are actually sharing max 70 or 80...

 

Understanding what your paying for is very good idea, is it 100/10 or 100/5 is it 400/12 etc. etc.

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Grand Master

xrobwx71

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If your like me and you get the 150 which is "good enough", you'll soon wish you got the 400.   :)  For instance, I got the Intel i9 7960X to save a bit of money and the whole time I have been wishing I got the 7980XE.....  But that's me...... :)

 

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Mindovermaster Global Moderator

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25 minutes ago, xrobwx said:

If your like me and you get the 150 which is "good enough", you'll soon wish you got the 400.   :)  For instance, I got the Intel i9 7960X to save a bit of money and the whole time I have been wishing I got the 7980XE.....  But that's me...... :)

 

What does a CPU have to do with internet speed? It all depends on what you are doing with it. ;)

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bikeman25

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Currently using 250/20 Package from Xfinity,  think provides enough bandwidth for our household of 10 devices,   while If I could afford it, i'd probably go for Extreme 400, or Gigabit, but guess 250 is fine for our needs at this point.    Overall happy with connection,  though sometimes wish I had picked a little faster processor for PC in 2017,  Intel I7 7700K versus 7700 that I ended up getting, but guess it's fine.

 

 

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thisdude

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On 5/26/2019 at 3:54 PM, bikeman25 said:

Currently using 250/20 Package from Xfinity,  think provides enough bandwidth for our household of 10 devices,   while If I could afford it, i'd probably go for Extreme 400, or Gigabit, but guess 250 is fine for our needs at this point.    Overall happy with connection,  though sometimes wish I had picked a little faster processor for PC in 2017,  Intel I7 7700K versus 7700 that I ended up getting, but guess it's fine.

 

 

Yeah I'm thinking I'll be alright too. Sure I've got lots of devices "connected" but in reality they all aren't downloading/streaming all at the same time either. Like I said in my original post there might be 3 smart TVs streaming some service and someone surfing the web. We're not big gamers nor is anyone downloading movies/mp3s like we all did before streaming services lol.

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thisdude

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On 5/26/2019 at 3:09 PM, BudMan said:

Upload speed is more than just if something is uploading something...

 

You do understand that download something at speed X requires a certain amount of upload speed Y.. You have to send the ACKs back.. So while while if only a few streams you might be able to max out the download they say you have with the upload they provide - say a 100/10 plan... But if you have say 5 clients all doing downloads, that 10 might not be enough to get 100 down... You fill up the upload pipe, etc..  So now vs your clients sharing 100, maybe they are actually sharing max 70 or 80...

 

Understanding what your paying for is very good idea, is it 100/10 or 100/5 is it 400/12 etc. etc.

I'm not sure what files are being uploaded from Netflix/Hulu/YouTube would be significant enough to impact their service? I mean I can't imagine any of these services having required returned information being so heavy as to negatively affect their streaming service because that would negatively affect their subscriber count. I get what you're saying. However, like I said in my original post we're not gamers, least not yet, and we don't download huge files. We stream video services and surf the web. But thanks for the post, I'll have to Google what ACKs are lol.

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thisdude

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On 5/26/2019 at 3:20 PM, xrobwx said:

If your like me and you get the 150 which is "good enough", you'll soon wish you got the 400.   :)  For instance, I got the Intel i9 7960X to save a bit of money and the whole time I have been wishing I got the 7980XE.....  But that's me...... :)

 

Dude my computer is a laptop from 2013 and I still think it's plenty of power lol. So I think I'm fine on that front. But yeah maybe down the road I'll see a need to increase download speed. But I just can't justify paying for something that I won't really use or mostly use. I mean we're out of the house for most of the day and when we are using the internet heavily it's just for watching TV and surfing the web. And even that's for just a few hours out of the day. So all the "speed" isn't even being used most of the time and for most of the year right.?

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+BudMan MVC

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  • MVC
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Be ready for a very deep rabbit hole ;)  And keep in mind that your going to be using different window sizes, and then there SACK so you don't need to send ack for every packet, etc

 

My point is that you NEED upload speed to be able to download anything..  If you have lots of different sessions going on - say multiple streaming sessions to multiple devices, your going to need more upload then if just 1 stream, etc.  And yeah your prob not going to run into an an issue unless your upload is very limited..  But its a very good idea to know what your upload limit is..

 

Here is an example what talking about that your uploading when downloading.

 

This is during a speedtest, you can see what currently downloading at, and the upload being used to support that download.

 

speedtest.thumb.png.694b9b44b9172f632b3e61da1a8ba9bc.png

 

There are many factors at play.. the RTT between locations, the window sized being used, any loss on the line, is SACK being used?  Are there a lot of retrans, etc. etc.

 

The take away here again is that is not all about the download speed they say they can provide, if they do not provide enough upload.. Normally this is not an issue true - but you should be aware of what your paying for vs 100, is 100/10, 100/5, 100/20, etc. etc.

 

In a perfect world we would all have symmetrical where we get X/X, same up as down vs X/Y for bandwidth packages.

Grand Master

SnoopZ

Posted
Posted

Can you tell us your ISP then we can tell you what your upload will be based on your chosen package?

 

To give a real world example of what Budman and I are saying, my parents internet used to be bad with 6mbit download and 1mbit upload, this worked fine when it was 2 people browsing but when there were 4 people browsing it just ground to a halt and if someone wanted to make a simple VoIP call that was also impossible.

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thisdude

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On 5/28/2019 at 2:25 AM, SnoopZ said:

Can you tell us your ISP then we can tell you what your upload will be based on your chosen package?

 

To give a real world example of what Budman and I are saying, my parents internet used to be bad with 6mbit download and 1mbit upload, this worked fine when it was 2 people browsing but when there were 4 people browsing it just ground to a halt and if someone wanted to make a simple VoIP call that was also impossible.

Sure it's Xfinity.

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