You might be wondering what sort of download speeds you actually need. The true answer is that it depends, but we will try make some generalisations to come to a conclusion on what download speeds your average residential home actually needs.
To come to a conclusion we are going to need some download speed figures for the most common applications:
Youtube (720p) - 2.5Mbps
Youtube (1080p) - 5Mbps
Youtube (4K) - 20Mbps
Twitch (720p 60fps) - 3Mbps
Twitch (1080p 60fps) - 6Mbps
Youtube (4K) - 20Mbps
Netflix SD (720p) - 3Mbps
Netflix HD (1080p) - 5Mbps
Netflix 4K - 25Mbps
Zoom 1:1 720p - 1.2Mbps
Zoom 1:1 1080p - 3.8Mbps
Microsoft Teams 1:1 720p - 1.2Mbps
Microsoft Teams 1:1 1080p - 1.5Mbps
Microsoft Teams Group Call 1080p - 2Mbps
WoW - 0.071Mbps
LoL - 0.079Mbps
CS:GO - 0.418Mbps
Valorant - 0.177Mbps
Overwatch - 0.404Mbps
Dota 2 - 0.134Mbps
As you can see, video services are the most download hungry out of them all. So with these figures how do we figure out how much download speeds you actually need? Our advice is to get enough download to be able handle each person in the house using a 1080p service at the same time. If you have 4 people in your house then 20Mbps (x4 1080p (5Mbps)) should be enough. The chances of everyone using a 1080p (5Mbps) service at the same time is low. Did you know the average household is using on average 2Mbps throughout the whole day?