We always look for the cheapest rate and the one that offers us the highest speed to be able to surf the Internet, but do you really need it? You don’t always need more megabytes and pay more for the best. There are only a few cases where you really need 1 gig internet and you shouldn’t always look for this speed.
The operators offer different speed options when we contract fiber. Generally we find options of 300 Mb, 500 Mb, 1 Gb… Do we always need to hire the best? Normally, the higher the speed, the higher the price. And you don’t always have to pay more because you won’t need it.
How much do you need?
We must take into account how much we need for what we usually do and thus know if you are really going to miss having 1 gig Internet or it is really more than enough for everything you do in your day to day with the computer.
Do you need it to watch Netflix in the highest quality? We don’t need that much at all. Netflix recommends, on its website, download speeds of 25 Mbps if we want to play content with the Netflix 4K Plan. To reach this speed we would need more than thirty simultaneous broadcasts in maximum quality (more than what the platform itself allows) of series and films.
The same goes for video calls , do we really need that much speed for online meetings? You don’t need so much to get them to work smoothly or to make the image look good on your computer . Zoom recommends speeds of 3.8 Mbps for 1080p videoconferencing, so you’ll need a lot less contracted to make it work smoothly. And if there are several people at home, you would have to have more than 250 video calls at the same time for it to be insufficient.
Yes, you may need it in the case of editing video content, for example, if you want to use tools or upload videos or broadcast live from platforms such as Twitch, ensuring the best speed without cuts. It can also be interesting when playing demanding titles over the Internet.
Other interesting cases in which you need this speed is in the case of downloading games, as we have said, or computer consultants or companies that have a server with data that we need to continuously download or upload.
What to keep in mind
But you must keep something in mind: the speed contracted with your operator is the one that comes out of the router directly with a network cable. That is to say, you will not have 1 Gig when you connect to the Internet from the WiFi of your laptop in the room farthest from the router , but this is the speed guaranteed with the cable and from the router. That is why you must take into account that there will be a difference between what you contract and what you receive.
Do I need 1 gig?
As you can see, there are few cases in which you will need to have so much speed . But it’s even clearer when you’re not gaming or watching Netflix in 4K. In those cases, do not consider it: much less is enough. It is enough to have 500 Mb to check mail, send emails, watch Twitter or watch a video on YouTube.
If you are going to hire an Internet rate for your parents or your grandparents or even for yourself if you are only going to check email or read the newspaper online, it is absurd. To browse the Internet or to consult websites or make purchases online, you do not need to have maximum speed, nor will you notice that you have much less contracted.