What bandwidth do I need?

For some applications the bandwidth is not critical. For normal surfing on the web a bandwidth of 2 Mbps is often found to be sufficient.

Some applications however depend on sufficient bandwidth to function. A video or music, for example, can only be enjoyed without interruption if the connection is fast enough.
The following bandwidths are typically recommended by Internet providers for specific applications:

  • Voice over Internet Protokoll (VoIP):

    • Voice: 0.1 Mbps download/ 0.1 Mbps upload (see Skype)
    • Video conference: 8 Mbit/s Download/0,512Mbit/s Upload (see Skype)

  • Video:

    • 0,7 Mbit/s - 20 Mbit/s (resolution 360p - 4k) (see Youtube)
    • Standard definition (SD, 576p/480p): 3 Mbit/s (see Netflix)
    • High definition (HD, 720p): 5 Mbit/s (see Netflix)
    • Ulta HD (4K - 3840x2160@60fps): 25 Mbit/s (see Netflix)

  • Music streaming:

  • Cloud-Gaming

    • 25 Mbit/s download (see Stadia)
    • 15 Mbit/s download für 720p, 25 Mbit/s für 1080p) (see Geforce Now)

If you share your Internet access with other users, higher data rates are needed accordingly. The important thing is to consider not only the download bandwidth but the upload bandwidth (specially for cloud services).