HD streaming, video calls, cloud file sync and social apps. Around 25 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up each.
Bandwidth is shared, so what matters is how many people are actually pulling data at the same moment - not the headcount.
Spare capacity for updates, backups and the days everyone is home. Sizing a line to exactly the average is how it ends up feeling slow.
Download you need
175Mbps
5 of 8 online at once, 25 Mbps each, plus 40% headroom.
Upload you need
35Mbps
Video calls and cloud backups run in this direction, and it is the one providers skimp on.
Plan to buy
300 Mbps
Next tier up
Per active user
35.0 Mbps
5 concurrent
In megabytes
21.9 MB/s
Combined throughput
Without headroom
125 Mbps
The bare minimum
| Group | Required | Plan to buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 35 Mbps | 100 Mbps |
| 5 people | 105 Mbps | 300 Mbps |
| 10 people | 210 Mbps | 300 Mbps |
| 25 people | 525 Mbps | 1,000 Mbps |
| 50 people | 1,050 Mbps | 2,000 Mbps |
| 100 people | 2,100 Mbps | 3,000 Mbps |
| 250 people | 5,250 Mbps | 6,000 Mbps |
Bandwidth is not the whole story
A line can have enough bandwidth and still feel slow. Latency, Wi-Fi coverage, an old router and the number of devices fighting for airtime all matter, and none of them are fixed by buying a bigger number.