What does 60 mb broadband mean

According to the document, you'll want a download speed of 3 Mbps or better and an upload speed of 0. Your ping rate a measure of lag your Internet connection causes in online gaming should also be less than milliseconds. When it's time to stream games between friends on Twitch , you'll need faster connectivity, according to Microsoft and other game companies.

According to Twitch's broadcasting guidelines , you'll need a bit rate of at least 2. It then goes up to 3. If you want to stream at p and 30 fps, you need 3. The good news is that internet speeds are improving. A study from internet speed-test company Ookla found that the average download speed increased by Gigabit speed connections, once limited to specific neighborhoods in only the largest cities, is now more widely available than ever.

See our guide to learn what is gigabit Internet. And there are plenty of places to find that out. There are also similar tools provided by various broadband companies, if you want to use a tool that's specific to your Internet service provider:. Regularly checking your connection speeds will not only give you a good idea of whether you're getting the services you pay for, but also how well-suited your connection is to uses like streaming in 4K or online gaming.

While most discussion of home internet service centers around fixed broadband and fiber connections, the reliance on wireline connectivity to meet the needs of an entire home is starting to shift dramatically. As 5G wireless technology starts to roll out across the country, there is a push to use the faster speeds of 5G for in-home broadband, as well as mobile connectivity.

The potential speeds promised by 5G are an incredible jump forward, with download speeds ranging from from Mbps to more than 1 Gbps in some tests. That's an enormous improvement over 4G, which ranges from Mbps. That's also fast enough that you could conceivably use a 5G connection to meet all of your home internet needs instead of traditional wired broadband.

Once 5G speeds come to your area, the mobile technology could give your current ISP a run for its money. However, there's still a way to go before 5G in the home becomes a viable option.

First, 5G service needs to roll out to more of the country. It's offered in some cities, but rural coverage isn't wide spread, and networks are still being built out and refined. The hardware for in-home use is a little different, with exterior 5G antennas to pull in the signal, and 5G-friendly routers then divvying up the connection throughout the home.

These products are still in the early days, so don't count on ditching your cable just yet. There's also the question of price, as most data plans from carriers are still mobile-oriented, and come with data caps and restrictions that aren't as flexible as current fixed broadband.

For now, we recommend waiting on switching your whole home to 5G. Ultimately, deciding on the internet speeds you need isn't as simple as it looks — or as simple as ISPs want you to believe. According to the experts, you need to think about the number of devices that will simultaneously connect to your network and exactly what you want to do with your connection.

If it's just streaming and web surfing you're after, you likely won't need much. So to try to make things clearer, we've simplified things with our download speed calculator, which will show you the actual time it takes to download different file types. In order to support multiple users or greater demands such as 4K streaming or online gaming, a good download speed would be around 60Mbps, which typically falls into the category of superfast broadband.

The download speed calculater shows a few examples of different types of files you typically download from the internet, along with how long they take to download on different broadband speeds in minutes and seconds. Keep in mind that actual speed isn't always as fast as advertised speeds, and there are many additional factors that affect speed.

Therefore, there may be some variation in the download time calculator numbers. While each gaming platform is slightly different, the minimum download speed you need for online gaming is 3Mbps. However, your download speed isn't the only factor that will affect your online gaming experience, you'll need a decent upload speed and a ping rate of less than ms milliseconds.

Keep in mind that these requirements will go up for each additional player in your household, and that they don't take into account your internet being used for any other activity at the same time which is highly unlikely.

Newer, high-res games such as those that use 4K streaming will place the biggest demands on your broadband, and a download speed of 3Mbps will definitely not be enough. And given that most blockbuster video game titles come in at dozens of GBs in size, how long it will take to download the actual games files will also depend on your broadband speed too. Take a look at our report on video game download times around the world to see how long Brits have to wait compared to other nationalities.

One of the biggest influences on your online gaming experience is latency and response time, the delay between the action in the game and when it's displayed on your screen.

Your ping rate is the speed at which you get a response from your Internet connection after you send out a request.

For example, if you have a ping rate of ms, your computer takes ms to respond to a request by another computer. Therefore, if your ping rate is higher than your opponent's, your responses will be slower and their moves will register first. In fast-paced games you'll want as little ping as possible. Reducing the number of devices on your home network can help, as will closing as many tabs and programs as possible if gaming on a PC.

If your network is often busy, upgrading to a higher speed broadband connection can decrease latency and give you an overall better gaming experience. See our latest gaming broadband deals. Netflix allows you to download films and TV shows to watch offline via the Netflix app. Within the Netflix app on your smartphone or tablet, simply tap on the download icon to save the episode or movie to your device.

The download speed will depend on the version you select. We define superfast broadband as being 24Mbps or more. How fast is your internet connection now? Do a speed test You can test your current broadband speed here: Or, search "broadband speed test" and follow the instructions. Getting the most accurate results: connect with wires - For the most accurate results, your computer should be connected to your router using an Ethernet cable disconnect other wireless devices - Make sure no other devices or people use the broadband connection during the speed test For the best results, close all other programs and internet browsers running on your computer and stop any active downloads Great, but what does that actually mean?

The table below gives a rough idea of how your connection speed will affect the time it takes to do tasks online: Internet connection speed Time to load a typical web page Time to download a typical 5 minute song Streaming video quality 56k dial-up modem 14 seconds 12 mins 30 secs Low quality k broadband 3 seconds 3 mins k broadband 1. What speed will my household need? There are several practical things you can do to improve your broadband speed.

See: Ofcom - Improving your broadband speed Cable.