How much broadband speed do I actually need?
Broadband providers love selling you the biggest number. In reality, most UK households use a fraction of the speed they pay for. Here's a realistic guide to picking the right plan.
The short answer
For a typical UK household of 2–4 people with streaming, video calls and normal browsing, 50–100Mbps is plenty. Bigger households, 4K streaming or heavy gaming benefit from 300Mbps+.
1 person, basic use — 36–50Mbps
Email, browsing, HD Netflix, the odd video call. Cheaper FTTC or entry-level FTTP plans do this comfortably.
2–4 people — 50–150Mbps
Multiple devices streaming HD/4K at the same time, working from home, some gaming. This is the sweet spot for most UK families.
Heavy household or working from home — 150–500Mbps
Frequent 4K streaming on multiple TVs, large file uploads, video calls that must not glitch, home office setups. Full-fibre FTTP shines here.
Gamers and creators — higher-capacity plans
Higher-capacity plans can help households with large downloads, uploads and multiple simultaneous users, but latency, Wi-Fi and the address-specific connection also matter.
Latency matters more than speed for gaming
For online gaming, the ping (round-trip time) matters more than raw Mbps. Any full-fibre connection typically gives you 5–20ms — miles better than legacy FTTC.
FAQs
Next step
Find out what's available at your address, or talk to a human about your setup.