Here are the recommended connection speeds for many popular Internet activities. If you are doing multiple things at once online or sharing a connection with multiple computers, then these recommended speeds may not be enough.

Skype (source: Skype Support)

  • •For voice calls: 0.1 Mbps download / 0.1 Mbps upload
  • •For video calls: 0.5 Mbps download / 0.5 Mbps upload
  • •For HD video calls: 1.5 Mbps download / 1.5 Mbps upload

An important note: these connection speed requirements include downloading and uploading at the same time. Since the speed test tests download and upload separately for accuracy, your results will need to be higher than the the numbers provided above. For example, your upload speed may be 2 Mbps in the result, but may go down to 1 Mbps while your connection is downloading something at the same time.

Netflix (source: Netflix Help)

  • •Recommended broadband connection speed: 1.5 Mbps download
  • •For HD quality: 5.0 Mbps download

YouTube (source: YouTube Help)

  • •Recommended: at least 0.5 Mbps download

YouTube offers several quality levels for videos. The lower numbers (360p) indicate that the video is smaller and uses less bandwidth, but is also less detailed. The more detailed the video (480p, 720p, or 1080p), the more bandwidth it takes to stream. Choose the highest video quality that allows you to stream without repeated stops and starts.

Hulu (source: Hulu Help)

  • •Recommended: at least 1.5 Mbps download

Hulu also offers several different quality levels for different connection speeds. Using the gear icon, you can tell Hulu to auto-select the best quality for your bandwidth.

Online Video Games

  • •Recommended: a low ping (less than 100 ms)

For playing video games online, download and upload don't matter as much as ping, which measures how responsive your connection is. The lower the ping to servers and other players, the less lag you will have in your game. To lower ping, connect your computer to the router using ethernet instead of Wi-Fi, and avoid downloading/uploading files while playing games.

Spotify (source: Spotify FAQ)

  • •Recommended (standard quality on web and desktop, high quality on mobile): 0.15 Mbps