Almost every speed recommendation you will read is written by someone who profits from you buying a bigger plan. Here is the version that is not.
<section>
<div class="wrap">
<h2>The short answer</h2>
<p>
For most households, <strong>100 Mbps down is enough and the upload
number matters more than the download number</strong>. A 500 Mbps
plan does not make a video call better than a 100 Mbps plan. A
20 Mbps upload versus a 500 Mbps upload absolutely does.
</p>
<p>
The reason the industry advertises download speed is that download speed
is where cable is competitive. Upload is where it is not.
</p>
</div>
</section>
<section>
<div class="wrap">
<h2>What each activity actually needs</h2>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th>Activity</th><th>Download</th><th>Upload</th></tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td>Web, email, social</td><td>5 Mbps</td><td>1 Mbps</td></tr>
<tr><td>HD streaming, per stream</td><td>5 Mbps</td><td>n/a</td></tr>
<tr><td>4K streaming, per stream</td><td>25 Mbps</td><td>n/a</td></tr>
<tr><td>Video call, per participant</td><td>4 Mbps</td><td><strong>4 Mbps</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td>Online gaming</td><td>5 Mbps</td><td>2 Mbps</td></tr>
<tr><td>Cloud backup running</td><td>n/a</td><td><strong>as much as you have</strong></td></tr>
<tr><td>Uploading video</td><td>n/a</td><td><strong>as much as you have</strong></td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="muted">
These are steady-state requirements for the activity itself. Add them up
for everyone in the house doing things simultaneously, then add headroom.
</p>
</div>
</section>
<section>
<div class="wrap">
<h2>By household</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>One or two people, streaming and browsing.</strong>
100 Mbps down. Upload rarely matters. Do not pay for a gigabit.</li>
<li><strong>Family of four, one or two people working from home.</strong>
200–300 Mbps down, and this is where upload starts to bite.
Look for 20 Mbps up as a floor, more if you can get it.</li>
<li><strong>Anyone uploading large files: video, photography,
backups, streaming to an audience.</strong> Upload is the entire
decision. This is the household where fiber is worth real money and
cable is genuinely frustrating.</li>
<li><strong>A house full of 4K TVs.</strong> Even four simultaneous 4K
streams is about 100 Mbps. Download is almost never the
constraint people think it is.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</section>
<section>
<div class="wrap">
<h2>Do you need gigabit?</h2>
<p>
Usually not. A gigabit plan is worth buying when the upload side comes
with it. On fiber, a 1 Gbps plan is frequently 1 Gbps
both ways, and that symmetry is the real product. On cable, a gigabit
download plan can still carry an upload in the tens of megabits, which is
the same upload you would get on a much cheaper tier.
</p>
<p>
Check the upload figure before you pay for the download figure. If the
provider does not display it prominently, that is informative.
</p>
</div>
</section>
<section>
<div class="wrap">
<h2>What speeds can you actually get?</h2>
<p>
This is the part the speed guides skip. Nationally, the FCC records fiber
at 1 Gbps as available to about half of US homes, but that
average is meaningless for any specific address, because fiber was built
street by street. In our own analysis of every US census block, roughly
one in eight residential locations sits in a block where fiber exists but
does not reach that location.
</p>
<p class="hero-cta">
<a class="btn" href="/check-my-address/">See what is available at your address →</a>
</p>
<p>
More on why the technology decides the upload number:
<a href="/guides/fiber-vs-cable/">fiber vs cable</a>. And if your current
connection is underperforming what you pay for, that is a different
problem, so <a href="/guides/why-is-my-internet-slow/">start here</a>.
</p>
</div>
</section>