Broadband Speed Needs Calculator

Fill out some basic information about how many people live at home, and how you use the internet, and our calculator will provide a rough minimum download and upload speed you should look for when buying broadband.

Broadband speed needs calculator icon.
Which of the following internet activities does your family do?
Do you often download large files (>1GB) from the internet?
Do you often upload large files (>1GB) to the internet?
Do you often have people streaming video at the same time on different devices?

How to use the calculator

This calculator suggests a minimum broadband speed you might need for your household, given how many people live at home, and how you use the internet.

To use this tool, simply fill out the form above, answering each question, then click “Submit” to get an idea of the baseline download and upload speed you should be on the lookout for when shopping for a new broadband deal.

Usually, the values shown are good to keep in mind as a minimum value. If the tool suggests you need at least 135 Mbps for example, a 150 Mbps plan should offer plenty of speed for your needs.

What determines how much broadband speed I need?

The two main things that determine what speed you need are:

  1. The types of things you do online. For example, streaming ultra-high-definition video and downloading large files both require more bandwidth than browsing the web.
  2. How many people get online at home. The more people online, and the more often they are online, the more bandwidth you need to facilitate their internet usage.

Essentially, you can think of your broadband connection a bit like a hosepipe.

The more things your household does online, and the more people online, the more data is requested (the more water flows down the hose).

The more bandwidth being requested, the more speed you’ll need (the wider the pipe will need to be) to be able to handle the level of data demand without facing slowdowns.

Data-intensive internet activities include:

  • Downloading large files
  • Streaming HD or 4K-quality video, such as on Netflix
  • Video-heavy social media usage, such as TikTok
  • Livestreaming (uploading HD video in real time)

On the other hand, less data-intensive activities include:

  • Web browsing
  • Checking emails
  • Online shopping
  • Image/text-based social media

Why is it important to get the right broadband speed?

Broadband plans are often fairly inflexible, with long contract lengths, so it’s important to get a plan with the right speed for your needs when buying.

If you buy a plan that’s too slow, you’ll experience slowdowns and buffering when watching videos, especially when lots of people get online at the same time.

But if you buy a plan that’s faster than you need, you’ll likely end up wasting hundreds of pounds per year or more, especially if you get an ultrafast tariff. Full fibre broadband is still very expensive with many internet providers.

Using the result provided by the calculator above, you can get a broadband plan with the bandwidth your household needs, without paying anything more than you need to.

Other ways to save money on broadband

Apart from ensuring you only get the broadband speed you really need, here are some other ways to save as much money on your broadband bill as possible:

  1. Switch to a social tariff if eligible. Most broadband providers offer special discounted deals for those on certain types of benefits payments, such as Universal Credit. You can switch to these special discounted plans even when in-contract with a regular broadband deal, assuming you qualify for a social tariff your provider offers.
  2. Use 5G internet instead of fibre broadband. These wireless internet services tend to be a lot cheaper than getting fibre to the premises. However, just be aware that they don’t have the most stable latency, meaning they’re not the best choice if you play a lot of competitive online games.
  3. Make sure to search for altnets available in your area when buying broadband. There are now dozens of small, independent broadband companies with their own broadband networks, and these providers are often cheaper than major companies such as BT or Virgin Media. You can use our comparison site to see the range of different broadband providers available at your address.
  4. Avoid extra add-ons if possible. Bundled services such as SIM-only deals and WiFi extenders can begin to increase your monthly cost very quickly compared to just getting a broadband-only deal. If you’re in a contract at the moment, see if any of these add-ons can be removed to help reduce your monthly bill.