Broadband Users 'Need' At Least 10Mbps To Be Satisfied

Mickeycaskill writes: A new report says broadband users need at least 10Mbps speeds to be satisfied with their connection — especially with regards to online video which is now seen as a staple Internet application. Researchers at Ovum measured both objective data such as speed and coverage alongside customer data to give 30 countries a scorecard. Sweden was deemed to have the best broadband, ahead of Romania and Canada, while the UK and US finished joint-eight with Russia. "Ever since broadband services were launched, there has been discussion on what is the definition of broadband and how much speed do consumers really need?" said co-author Michael Philpott. "In 2015, the answer is at least 10Mbps if you wish to receive a good-quality broadband experience, and a significant number of households, even in well-developed broadband countries, are well shy of this mark."

Comments

10 Mbits isn't enough

[Nyder]

You can't stream decent video with 10 Mbits while someone else in your house is trying to play an online game or even web browsing these days.

Worse, I have a 50 Mbit connection with Comcast and you can't stream their Xfinity stuff without buffers and pixelated/blocks showing up. Which I find amusing, that Comcast can't even stream their own shit on their own networks.

I'd say 25Mbits is the least people can use with a mostly usable internet.

And I"m saying Mbits instead of Mbps so people understand we are talking bits, not bytes.

That's still way too slow for a peak speed

[dgatwood]

Most users don't need more than 10 Mbits/s averaged over a week, but most users will swear at their ISP at least once a year unless their connection is nearly an order of magnitude higher than that. I just did a full iCloud backup of a 64 GB iPhone 5 for the first time in a year. Had I used a 10 Mbit/s connection, given how much slower upload usually is, I'd expect to have only around 3 Mbit/s upload speed, which would mean the backup would have taken more than half a weekend. That's barely even usable. Forget being satisfied.

Re:10 Mbps

[beelsebob]

I live in an area with 50Mb/s connections available. I pay for 12, because it's plenty for everything I do. I don't really see any reason to have a faster connection frankly. I'm sure with higher quality video streaming that goal will move, but your assertion that 100Mb/s should be the standard is very off for today.

Re:10 Mbps

[Darinbob]

Which means that the US is not a developed area. But 100Mbps is too high I think, that's standard ethernet speed and if you need more than that at home then you're probably running a pr0n server.

At some point these start to be bragging numbers, where people claim they want more just to have larger numbers. Similar to audiophiles ("I can hear the difference") and high end gamers ("better gibbing experience"). Especially true for people who take that fat pipe and then shove it all onto basic wi-fi.

Re:First post!

[Anonymous Coward]

More food for thought: Introduction of helmet laws only partially reduced head injury rates. Introduction of helmet laws dramatically reduced cycling rates (by about 1/3rd in Australia and NZ). Reduction in bicycle users has led to a decrease in bicycle safety awareness and an increase in accident rate among cyclists.

Re:10 Mbps

[spire3661]

We are neck deep into an Information Age, these are not crazy speeds. Every home should have 1 GB SYMMETRICAL for $50/mo by now.