How much internet speed do I need?

[Orrex]

I'm currently being fleeced monthly by Comcast, and I'm desperate to go with another provider, but they appear to be the only game in town here in central western PA.

They offer around 100Mbps, and right now at low ebb I'm clocking 54Mbps, but I confess that I have no idea what that means. Verizon tells me that they can offer 3.1M to 7M, which seems like a preposterously slow rate by comparison.

Our main usage is for streaming NetFlix, often with two of us watching separate movies on different devices at the same time.

How much speed do I need to achieve this?


I'd love to get clear of Comcast, but not if it hobbles our internet usage.


Recommendations?

[Ptah]

1. I saw on the internets that red sig lines slow it down for everyone.

[OriginalGeek]

2. I pay for and generally get

very close to 40meg down. If you are going from 54ish down to 7 or so you would notice it and it would suck. I wouldn't want to stream netflix at those speeds.

Don't make the move until someone can guarantee you at least 20meg down and then I would only do it if it were significantly cheaper.
Once you get a taste of the fast life it's hard to go back.

[Orrex]

3. That's what I was afraid of

The tech-chat person on Verizon is telling me that 7Mbps is perfect for streaming multiple movies at once, but I simply can't believe it.

I also can't believe that Comcast is the only game in town, but there you have it. I could go with snail-pace Verizon or turtle-pace Dish, and that's it.


But it's not a monopoly, of course...

[onehandle]

4. What? We're getting 100+ from Verizon FiOS. nt

[Orrex]

6. FiOS has been "coming soon" to my region since 2007

Verizon's non-FiOS "high speed" clocks in at a blistering 3.5 to 7Mbps.

[onehandle]

9. Ah. Sucko. Sorry. nt

[Dr. Strange]

5. No one needs more than 75.

[Orrex]

7. 50 would apparently be more than enough for my needs, but no one offers it.

Well, one provider offers it: Comcast. For about $10 less per month than the criminally over-priced service that I have at the moment.

[ChromeFoundry]

10. Assuming you are both streaming in HD...

1885 MB/hr for HD per device

2 devices @ 3770 MB/hr

3770 * 8 bits = 30160 Mb/hr

30160 / 60 = 502.666666667 Mb/min

502.666666667 / 60 = 8.37777777778 Mbps

If Super-HD is available in your area, this equates to 7 Mbps per device...
or 14 Mbps for 2 devices.

If this is you maximum bandwidth utilization, anything more than 20 Mbps is overkill.


On Edit: Your Netflix Account settings will allow you to set your maximum streaming format (SD/ HD/ Super-HD) if you have a monthly bandwidth cap and watch a heck of a lot of Netflix.

[Orrex]

11. I'm sorry that I overlooked your reply until now!

Thanks for that terrific analysis and breakdown. I confess that I simply didn't know how to math it out, so I couldn't be sure if the super-hyper-warp speed that Comcast offers is really worth the price. I sure as hell didn't notice a difference when they bumped us up to the next speed-tier, but I was afraid that it was my own fault for failing to see it.

It reminds me of something that a friend once told me about digital cameras. He said that one of his biggest expenses was his need to keep buying cameras with more megapixels than regular consumer-grade stuff, because you can't make a sale with your 10MP setup when your customer gets 12MP from his phone. But the reality is that almost no one needs that level of resolution, since they'll never look at the pics except on their phones, or maybe as printed 8x10's. So what's the point of resolution sharp enough to print a billboard? Bragging rights, basically.

Sounds like the same thing is going on with Comcast. I don't need 80 of those Mbps, but they can market themselves as X-times faster than the competition.

Thanks again!