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Introduction
How Your Home Internet Works
Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers various plans which include different tiered Internet speeds. These speeds are gauged by Megabits per second (Mbps) and may differ for downloading data and uploading data. Downloading speeds are typically higher than uploading as downloading occurs more frequently. The volume of data able to be transferred in a given amount of time reflects your Internet speed’s performance. The higher the speed, the more data you can transfer in a shorter amount of time. You can consult with your Internet Service Provider to find out what speeds you are paying for. This is typically found on your monthly bill. Because there are several external factors that may affect your speed, your ISP will say they offer speeds “up to” X amount of Mbps.
- Example: if you are paying for 100 Mbps, they are not guaranteeing you will receive that speed every single time you make a connection to the Internet.
Explanation
Factors That Affect Your Internet Speed
- Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi relies on strong signal strength and clear channels to pass through the air for best performance. Your signal strength will vary based on your proximity to your wireless router as well as the medium the signal must pass through (ex. floors, walls). A low signal will result in poor speed and performance.
- Shared Connections: When you share your Internet connection among multiple members of the household or multiple devices, less bandwidth is allocated to the current computer you are using to work from home. For example, while you are working, another member of the household is streaming video on a TV. A certain percentage of your home’s total bandwidth is being consumed by the streaming video leaving less of a percentage available to your Work from Home computer. It is important that when considering your ISP’s plan, you purchase enough bandwidth to accommodate how much your Internet is going to be shared during the workday.
- Where Your Connection Is Going: You have determined that you have sufficient bandwidth at home but you still may be receiving slow speeds when downloading a file or experiencing choppy video when streaming. This may be because the party you are connecting to download data from may not have fast uploading speeds on their end or may be experiencing issues. In this situation, there is nothing you can do on your end to make the connection faster. You must rely on the third party to improve or fix their connection.
Visit https://www.speedtest.net to find out the speed of what your computer or device is currently getting. You will see the results of both your download and upload speeds.
How Much Speed Do I Need?
The below chart offers general speeds that are needed for common tasks or activities at home. Please keep in mind that many of the below tasks and activities are commonly done at the same time especially when there are multiple members in the household.
In addition, if you are connected to VPN, a percentage of your speed is lost due to connection having to flow through Pace first, before it actually reaches its destination.
