What broadband speed do I need?

Speed is about your busiest moment

The right speed is not about a single device, it is about everything running at once on your busiest evening. One person browsing needs very little. A family streaming in 4K, gaming and on video calls at the same time needs a lot more headroom.

A practical guide by household

• 1 to 2 people, light use: 30 to 36 Mbps is fine for browsing, HD streaming and the odd call.
• Small household, a few devices: 67 Mbps suits most homes and is the most common sweet spot.
• Busy family, 4K and home working: 100 to 150 Mbps keeps several heavy users happy.
• Large or device-heavy home: 300 Mbps and up, ideally full fibre, removes peak-time slowdowns.

Download is not the whole story

Upload speed matters more than people expect. Video calls, cloud backups and livestreaming all rely on it, and part-fibre lines often have low upload. If you work from home or create content, look for a plan with strong upload, which usually means full fibre. Latency (ping) matters for gaming and calls, and again full fibre tends to win.

Why full fibre changes things

Older part-fibre (FTTC) lines top out around 80 Mbps because the final stretch is copper. Full fibre (FTTP) runs fibre all the way and reaches 1 Gbps or more, with far better upload and reliability. If it has reached your street, it is usually the upgrade that makes the biggest difference. See FTTP vs FTTC for the detail, and compare full fibre deals at your address.

Check what you actually get

Providers quote average speeds at peak time, not guarantees. Run a speed test wired into your router to see your real figure. If it falls well short of what you pay for, that is worth raising, or a reason to switch.

The bottom line

Match the speed to your busiest evening, not a single device. 67 Mbps suits most homes; bigger or work-from-home households want 150 Mbps or full fibre. Do not pay for gigabit you will never use, but do not starve a busy household either.