Gigabit Internet: Is Faster Internet Plan Often Better?

This may come as a surprise, but faster speeds aren’t always better. While speed is important, you probably don’t need the 1, 000Mbps speed your internet company is advertising as” the best deal” unless you have a home chock full of big internet users and bandwidth-hogging products. Additionally, giant plans typically cost more than household internet. Let’s take a closer look at how to identify whether gig online is worth the price.

What is broadband web?

Let’s start at the beginning: Digital information is measured in bits, and a megabit is 1, 000, 000 pieces. Your online speeds are measured in or, more commonly, bits per second. How many data is processed over a community in a second is measured by that product. 1, 000Mbps is equal to 1 gigabit per minute, or Gbps.

The faster performance you can expect when or playing without slowdown or glitches, at least up to a place, the more kbps or gigabits per second your internet connection you support. Depending on your Wi-Fi configuration, home layout, and the number of big internet users in your home, you may also experience interruptions with a gigabit plan. But we’ll get into that afterwards.

What kind of rate do you actually need?

Second, take into account how much rate your family uses each month to determine whether or not you require a gigabit tier. Do you see a lot of latency, lag and interruption? You might need to improve if you’ve already looked through the list of gradual Wi-Fi options and discovered your speeds are also subpar. However, there are times when the solution is a sizable one, like moving your network to a raised, key area in your home. Are you hitting your information seal early in the month if you have a strategy with a data cover? Regardless of whether you have a information cover, the majority of ISPs offer programs that let you track your data use. If you’re using a lot of data quarter over quarter and perceiving slowdowns, you could potentially use a velocity upgrade.

Second, consider how many internet users and smart devices are there in your home. You can consult our&nbsp, &nbsp, and the FCC’s &nbsp, for more in-depth tips on evaluating how much speed you’ll need, but the recommendation for the heaviest internet usage ( like streaming in high-quality video, using Zoom, or downloading files ) requires only 25Mbps per action. A good rule of thumb is that upgrading to a gigabit tier would make sense if you had more than four heavy internet users in the house at once ( think , , remote workers, or ). Then, you’ll be paying for frequencies you didn’t apply.

Cable and fibre gbps internet

Two types of internet connections can genuinely deliver steady gigabit-speed online: wire and fiber. Moreover, fiber online is the bandwidth gold standard since it offers lightning-fast relationships and , giving you the fastest internet possible. It is more trustworthy than cable, and it’s less susceptible to experience peak usage or congestion.

connects to a provider of TV services using the same coaxial cables, so it’s frequently included with TV packages. It offers faster download speeds and is more trustworthy than . But unlike fiber, cable internet’s upload speeds are significantly slower than its download speeds. So, if you’re sending emails or video chatting, you might experience some delay.

Which providers offer gigabit internet?

Giant Internet service plans are offered by the majority of national . There’s a mix of fiber and cable providers that can offer speeds up to a gigabit, with most , like AT&amp, T and , offering speeds up to a gigabit and much faster. Unfortunately, fiber internet access is still pretty limited, with an overall 46 % availability, . Compared to , , , and others offer gigabit plans that are much more affordable. Notably, although Verizon 5G claims to offer speeds up to 1, 000Mbps, only a select lucky handful of customers will see those speeds. is the only other major provider to offer gigabit speeds besides Starry.

Although it’s possible that Starlink will offer multi-gigabit speeds in the future, satellite ISPs and internet service providers are not available. Which major ISPs offer gigabit speeds in the nation are listed below.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

A typically costs between$ 60 and$ 80 per month, with the highest monthly cost for the most widely available plans compiled above being$ 65. Multi-s can run between$ 70 to$ 100 or more monthly. For instance, and offer 10 gig plans for$ 300 per month, and Google Fiber offers an 8 gig plan that costs$ 150 monthly.

Generally, faster plans offer the lowest , a metric we often use to decipher whether an internet plan is cost-efficient. For instance, &nbsp, the cost per Mbps&nbsp, for Xfinity’s$ 300 per month 10 gig plan is just 3 cents. Meanwhile, Xfinity’s much more widely-used 300Mbps plan costs$ 35 monthly, which comes out to 12 cents per Mbps. That doesn’t mean paying$ 300 monthly for 10, 000Mbps is the better deal in this scenario. You’ll be better off with a slower plan if you’re running a business that requires that kind of speed.

Xfinity spokesperson Joel Shadle told CNET there’s more to value than speed:” While it’s important to get enough speed, maybe even more, value extends beyond that. In an internet plan, reliability is almost more important than speed.

Why do I not have the exact speeds that a gigabit plan promises?

Verizon Fios, Verizon’s fiber internet brand, offers a 1 gig plan for$ 90 per month but notes– in the small print underneath– that it maxes out at 940Mbps for downloads and 880Mbps for uploads. AT&amp, T’s 5 gig plan features speeds up to 4.7Gbps. This is common for ISPs, as many “gigabit” plans, especially ones that run on a cable connection, actually offer speeds lower than 1, 000Mbps. So what gives?

It’s complicated, but it boils down to the fact that networking protocols and equipment consume a lot of that bandwidth. Think of it as networking overhead. Additionally, the specific equipment that connects the internet to your laptop or phone, such as a , also affects the speed you’ll receive. For example, California-based provider Sonic Internet advertises speeds up to 10, 000Mbps for just$ 50 monthly. But unless you have a , you won’t get those speeds.

Plus, if you connect to your router wirelessly via Wi-Fi, your speeds will almost always be slower than they would otherwise be with a wired&nbsp, &nbsp, connection. This is why providers often list speeds “up to” a certain threshold. For most of us, the difference between one gig and 940Mbps should be imperceptible. Check out our top routers selections.

In light of this, when CNET reviews ISPs, we may use ISP plan names but use exact numbers when describing connection speeds. If a “gigabit” plan promises speeds only up to 940Mbps, we take that into account in our analyses and make it clear in our descriptions.

Learn more about ISP testing.

Is gigabit internet worth the price?

Some gigabit internet plans are quite expensive, some putting in hundreds of dollars per month. And there’s no point in paying for extra speed you don’t need or can’t use due to network hardware or other limitations. A gigabit plan might be worthwhile if you’re an internet power user who processes sizable video files or engages in cutting-edge online games, but only if other internet users are present. Less than a gig of speed should suffice for most households and save you hundreds of dollars annually. The most recent data from indicates that the average household only uses around 564Mbps in monthly download speeds.

state that a connection delivering between 100 and 500Mbps is enough for one to two people to run videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming applications simultaneously. Many providers offer 300Mbps plans starting around$ 50 per month, though sometimes even lower. Plans that deliver between 500 and 1, 000Mbps, which typically cost between$ 70 and$ 100 per month, will allow three or more people to use videoconferencing, streaming and online gaming simultaneously. These are only guidelines and internet speed, service and performance will vary– sometimes dramatically– depending on connection type, equipment, provider and address. Only the most ardent users have a justification for paying for something that exceeds a gig of speed.

According to CNET writer and resident internet service expert Joe Supan,” the majority of people don’t really need it.” He points out that symmetrical download and upload speeds could be a justification for paying for a fiber connection because sharing large files will experience less performance lag when sharing files. He suggests that having a faster upload speed might be worthwhile if you do have several employees working from home. As previously mentioned, any fiber connection can produce symmetrical speeds without requiring a gigabit upgrade.

Gigabit internet FAQ