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

[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.