Internet speed isn’t measured by just one number! Download, upload, ping, and signal quality metrics all matter, especially in rural areas. If your WiFi feels slow, you might need to make sure your speeds fit your needs.
Download Speed
Here’s what it provides:
- Streaming/Netflix/YouTube
- Scrolling social media
- Loading websites
- Downloading files
Upload Speed
Ping (Latency)
How much do you need?
10 Mbps = Email/browsing, single screen streaming
15 – 20 Mbps = Video calls (Zoom, FaceTime)
50+ Mbps = Live sports/4K Streaming, multiple TVs, phones, tablets at once
Often overlooked but super important. Upload speeds are used for:
- Video calls (Zoom, FaceTime)
- Posting photos & videos
- Security cameras & cloud backups
Slow uploads = choppy video calls
How fast your connection responds. Latency is most important for:
- Gaming
- Video calls
- Real-time apps
Lower numbers are better!
- Under 40 ms = great
- 40-80 ms = okay
- over 100 ms = laggy
Signal Quality
Even with good speeds, performance can slow down if:
- Trees, new structures, haystacks, RVs move into your line of sight
- Your radio/antenna is misaligned
What Speed Do You Actually Need?
Needs vary depending on the devices, uses and number of people on your network:
- 1-2 people: 15-50 Mbps
- Families/streaming homes: 30-100 Mbps
- Work-from-home/gamers: 100+ Mbps with generous upload capability & low latency