The internet service industry is booming with a ton of newcomers, each with its list of brand-new services and products to bring to the table. So, when you’re shopping for a worthy internet plan and looking for the best services in town, it’s easy to get confused. You’re always tempted to know if another provider is offering a better service at a better price or not, or whether you’re overpaying your current provider for the same service you can get at a better rate elsewhere.
With newcomers in the market, your internet provider may not be the ‘best’ anymore. There are a ton of options to pick from and there’s no harm in exploring. If you’re tired of seeing huge internet bills every month and feel confused each time, it’s time to move on and explore the internet providers in your area. After all, who likes breaking their bank to pay for a basic necessity?
One of the best ways to avoid getting slapped with big bills is by switching to another provider that offers reliable and faster internet speeds. With several options in the area, it’s easy to find a plan that can satisfy your internet needs. However, this can also be an overwhelming process. With so many options to skim and pick from, how do you know which one can truly meet your expectations?
It’s a long-term decision to make since switching multiple providers is not an ideal choice for internet users. This is why we’re here to guide you! We’ll help you out on your internet shopping trip. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know before signing up for a new internet plan!
Identify Your Internet Needs
Do you know the activities you use the internet for? What do you use it most for? How many people in the house use the internet and for what purposes? What kind of online needs do they have? When you answer these questions, you will find that your search for a particular internet plan is narrowed down, which helps you pick the right internet speed for your online needs, dependent on your household size.
To help you out, we’ve narrowed down the most common internet activities that juice up a lot of bandwidth. Check them out below and learn whether you and the internet users in your house have similar, if not the same, needs or not.
- Online gaming: Online gaming requires a high amount of bandwidth, network speed, and power. Depending on the game’s specifications and speed requirements, you need sufficient bandwidth and speed to sustain a lag-free gaming experience. For starters, a speed of 3Mbps is necessary to enjoy a lag-free gaming experience. Better speed means lower latency, better gameplay, and better transmission.
- 4K HD streaming: Who doesn’t like binge-watching shows on the weekend? If you or your family love getting together every weekend and binge-watching a whole series, you need to have an internet connection that is fast and stable enough. It should accommodate your streaming needs, and let you watch all your favorite movies and shows in HD or 4K with zero interruptions and buffering. To stream your favorites on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, a sufficient speed ranging from 5 to 25 Mbps is necessary. You want an internet plan that will allow buffer-free streaming on multiple devices simultaneously, so it should be capable of delivering up to 50 Mbps. EarthLink internet brings you incredible fast fiber internet plans at such affordable rates that you can’t miss. Stream all night with high internet speeds from EarthLink internet.
- Browsing: If one of your favorite past times is browsing social media, then a speed of at least 25 Mbps is good enough for long hours of scrolling from day to night. You don’t have to deal with long loading times or blank pages when your internet plan can deliver up to 25 Mbps.
Does the Number of Devices Connected to the Network Matter?
The load on your network affects its performance. For your Wi-Fi router to perform flawlessly, you have to mind the number of devices connected to the network. It’s a factor that is directly related to network speed and performance. The number of devices connected to the network determines how much bandwidth every device connected is using. If you have a large household, then a speed of at least 200 Mbps is necessary to support simultaneous internet activities like gaming, streaming, and browsing on multiple devices.
All in All
Now that you know what really matters before picking out an internet plan, make sure you’re well aware of your internet needs and the number of devices that will connect to the network before deciding on a plan.