Is my Internet Fast Enough?
These days we rely on the internet for business, banking, television, education, communication, social media – the list goes on and on. We also have more devices that we use to connect and browse. The average home has about fifteen internet connected devices - Televisions, smartphones, laptops, desktop computers, XBox, Play Station, IPads & Tablets - all competing for bandwidth on your internet plan. Multiply all this by the number of people at home and it’s not hard to see why your internet might be slow sometimes
Video is the hungriest user of bandwidth and you know you’ve got an issue when your video stops part way through or starts to lag. This is known as buffering and it’s a sure sign that demand is exceeding your internet supply. The flow of internet data is known as your bit-rate and there are a number of things that can affect it, in particular:
Your internet plan – these days almost all of us are on a fibre optic broadband plan. These plans differ in the speeds they offer in the download and upload directions.
a. Download is the data that is coming from the internet to you - think about watching Netflix or You Tube, receiving an email or Googling. You may use AI (Co-pilot, Perplexity, Gemini, Chat GPT, Claude etc) - that’s all downloaded information.
b Upload speed refers to information you send out towards the internet. Sending an email is the most common example.
Internet plans usually offer an asymmetrical plan, that is 500mbps download and 100mbps upload speed. This is written as 500/100. The numbers vary with the different plans. Businesses will often have a Symmetrical plan where the Download and Upload speeds are the same eg 500/500
Your Modem Router – is it able to push through the data fast enough? It’s one thing to have the latest internet plan but if your home router is a bit old, it may not be keeping up with the demand.
The processing power of the device you’re using – older computers and routers may not be capable of processing the faster bit rate it’s receiving. The video or movie you’re watching may require more processing power than the device can supply.
These are all bottlenecks that can restrict your internet speeds and limit your online enjoyment and productivity. To check your internet speed, you can go to Chorus Broadband Speed Test and run the test.
For an explanation on Wi-Fi, see my previous story - “Why Is My Wi-Fi Slow?”
If you’d like to speed up your internet, give us a call or fill in the Contact Form on this website.
Nga Mihi