Comparison of 100 Mbps vs 300 Mbps vs 500 Mbps vs Gigabit Internet Speeds

Back in the day we used to connect to the Internet with Dial-up modems with speeds of around 40-56 Kbps. I remember downloading MP3 songs (average of 3 MB per song) from my dial-up modem, and had to wait around 7-10 minutes for each downloaded song!!

Then, broadband Internet using ADSL and Cable technologies were introduced to the world and completely changed the whole Internet connection experience.

Currently, in most countries of the world, Internet speeds range between 30 Mbps to 1000 Mbps (Gigabit) and Internet providers seem to stretch the limits of connection technologies to offer as much bandwidth as possible to “speed-hungry” consumers.

If you are looking for the ideal internet speed plan for your home or office, this article will help you clarify a few things and get a sense of what each Internet speed means in a practical way (such as 100Mbps, 300Mbps, 500Mbps, 1000Mbps – Gigabit etc).

We know how hard it is to find the perfect internet plan that will cater to your needs but at the same time will be economical to your pocket.

And this task is especially difficult if you don’t know how much bandwidth you consume based on your usage and what each speed means in real-world use cases.

Once you’re done reading, we guarantee that you’ll have a concrete choice in mind and that you will get a solid idea of what various speed options mean in a practical way.

What is Mbps and Why Is It Important?

During your search for the best internet speed plan, you often come across terms such “Mbps”, download speed, uplink speed etc.

So what exactly does Mbps stand for?

Mbps is the acronym used to represent “Megabits per second”, and this is the metric used in measuring high-speed broadband speeds.

When you use an internet service, you use bits of data – and a million of these bits is one Megabit.

Everything you access on the internet uses a certain amount of data that your computer or smartphone needs to download and present it to you on the screen.

So, the higher Mbps your internet line is, the faster you will retrieve information from the Internet.

However, you must remember that “Megabit per second” (or Mbps) is different from a Megabyte or MB.

The former refers to the rate of downloading data (i.e one million bits per second) while the latter refers to the size of data. 1MB of data means 1 million bytes (or 8 million bits).

Aside from Mbps, you will see also Gbps which is also gaining popularity. Gbps stands for gigabits per second – that’s a thousand times faster than 1Mbps.

That’s like downloading an entire movie with the blink of an eye. And with the increasing demand for online streaming services, it won’t be long until everyone is on Gbps speeds.

Ideal Speeds for Specific Internet Services

Now that you know what Mbps means, let’s now proceed to determine your Internet usage and Internet requirements.

From our previous discussion, you can already see how your usage is tied to your ideal internet speeds. And honestly, it’s hard to determine how much you consume in a month or what the ideal speed should be.

But to give you an overview and help you out, here are the common internet-based services and their corresponding speed requirements.

Below we will see what each Internet activity category requires in terms of speed per each  session (if you have concurrent internet access activities then you should add up the numbers below).

General Productivity Tasks

Out of all the internet-based activities and services, productivity apps use very little data. Tasks like accessing emails, browsing websites, and accessing social media are among those falling under this category.

Since most of these are text-based, there is not a lot of data to download. It is only when you have to access multimedia files that you would need higher internet speeds.

For general productivity Internet activity (checking email, browsing, access of social media etc) each session usually needs around 2 to 4Mbps only.

Of course if 3 people in the home network do the above concurrently, then the total bandwidth requirements will be 3 times the above numbers.

Online Conferencing or Meetings

Another service that uses minimal data is online conferencing apps. With the turn of the decade, more people are switching to online meetings and classes with the help of one-on-one video services.

These apps require an average of 2 to 4Mbps internet speeds. These services are usually enhanced so that it wouldn’t need a lot of MB to send the message. Otherwise, it would be hard to communicate in real-time.

Online Gaming

Surprisingly, online gaming also requires minimal internet speeds. With all the impressive graphics and interactive play, you might think that online gaming would need high-speed internet access. This is Wrong.

Although modern games are “graphics-heavy”, when playing online games, all these graphics and multimedia do not pass through your Internet connection (rather, they are produced locally by your game console or computer).

The online access is used to interact with the game server and send-receive instructions.

To make sure that the game is fun and playable, it has to be low latency though.

This means that there should not be any delay on your internet line while you play. As such, online games are optimized to use as little data as possible to ensure a good game.

Thus, online gaming only needs internet speeds ranging from 2 to 5Mbps.

Video Streaming

One of the main reasons we want high-speed internet access is to enjoy video streaming services without long load times.

However, we have to make a distinction between streaming HD content and UHD or 4K content.

Most video streaming services give us the option to view our favorite movies and shows in either HD or UHD. If you prefer HD content, you would need around 5 to 8Mbps.

But if you prefer premium UHD or 4K content, you would need at least 25Mbps to fully enjoy the experience.

Miscellaneous Downloads (OS Updates etc)

We may not realize it, but miscellaneous downloads require the highest internet speeds. Sometimes, these miscellaneous download activities happen in the background without you realizing it.

I’m sure it happens to you once in a while: Your Internet gets slow as turtle without knowing the reason. Well, maybe one of your laptops started downloading Windows Updates in the background.

Moreover, miscellaneous downloads include downloading high-resolution files, operating system updates, app updates, and similar downloads. On average, these tasks require internet speeds between 40 to 50 Mbps.

With these in mind, you now have a rough idea of the internet speed you need for each class of Internet activity.

However, I must remind you that the figures mentioned above refer to a single session per user. If you have to share your internet with others (i.e having concurrent connections), you should also factor that in as well.

Let’s now discuss some typical Internet Speed plans and what they actually mean.

100 Mbps Internet Plan: Is it Good for Me?

For the average user living alone (or with 2-3 people) and having moderate internet activity, a 100Mbps internet plan will be perfect for you.

With this speed plan, you can download 12.5 Megabytes per second. To give you an idea of how fast it is, downloading a 5-Gigabyte movie file will only take you 6.6 minutes.

We’ll use this file size as a reference for the other internet speeds as well.

At this speed, even if you have to update the operating system of one device, you can still use another without worrying about any delay or lag.

A 100Mbps internet plan is great for streaming HD movies on up to five devices simultaneously. So even if you have guests over, keeping them entertained won’t be a problem.

This is also ideal for online meetings and online gaming.

You can connect to this speed via Cable Internet and VDSL.

300 Mbps Internet Plan: Do I really Need 300 Mbps?

For heavy internet users, a 300Mbps internet plan would be the ideal option.

To give you an idea, this speed can download a 5-Gigabyte movie file in only 2.2 minutes. That’s a 37.5 Megabytes per second download speed.

With this speed, you can enjoy watching UHD content on three or more devices simultaneously.

This is ideal for families using more than five devices at the same time.

Because of its upgraded speed, you will need at least a DOCSIS 3.0 Cable connection plan, Fiber Optic, or 5G Cellular to connect to this plan.

500 Mbps Internet Plan: Is this Good for Me?

Now, we’re entering the 500 Mbps internet plan and we’ll examine if 500 Mbps is fast enough. This high-speed plan allows you to connect to over 20 devices, making it perfect for business, office networks or very demanding family home networks.

With this plan, you can easily download a 5-Gigabyte file in around 1.3 minutes, or at a rate of 62.5 Megabytes per second.

This is great for accessing large-resolution files simultaneously, watching 4K content on multiple devices, and similar heavy internet usage.

Similarly with the 300 Mbps plan, you connect to the 500 Mbps plan using at least a DOCSIS 3.0 Cable, Fiber Optics, and 5G Cellular systems.

Some Internet Service Providers (ISP) that offer 500 Mbps speed plans include the following:

• Comcast Xfinity
•  Frontier Communications
• Spectrum
• AT&T
• Cox
• etc

1000 Mbps Internet Plan: Do I really need Gigabit Internet?

The newest internet speed plan in the market is at 1000 Mbps, otherwise known as the Gigabit internet plan.

With this ultra-fast internet access, you can download a 5-Gigabyte file in just 32 seconds! That translates to a whopping 125 Megabytes per second.

And if that’s not impressive, we have no idea what is.

At 1000 Mbps, multiple users can access 4K content, download high-resolution movie files, and so much more at the same time. This makes it perfect for businesses and offices requiring fast internet access without bottlenecks around the clock.

Since Gigabit internet is relatively new, you can connect to it only through the DOCSIS 3.1 technology, Fiber Optics, and on some 5G Cellular systems.

To make the discussion above a lot easier on the eyes, here are a few comparative charts of the different internet speed plans for your immediate reference.

In my opinion, a Gigabit Internet Speed plan is overkill for a regular house network (at least for now). It is mostly suited for office or business networks.

Here are some ISP providers that offer Gigabit (1000 Mbps) Internet Plans:

• AT&T Fiber
• Google Fiber
• Comcast Xfinity
• Verizon FIOS
• Spectrum
• etc

100 Mbps vs 300 Mbps

Both of these internet plans are ideal for residential use. The difference largely depends on the number of users and whether or not they’re heavy internet users.

* Prices are approximate and can vary greatly depending on service, duration, location etc.

100 Mbps vs 500 Mbps

These internet plans are made for a different category of users (i.e 100 Mbps is usually for residential and 500Mbps is usually for business networks). However, a 500-Mbps plan can also be ideal for large families with heavy internet users.

* Prices are approximate and can vary greatly depending on service, duration, location etc.

300 Mbps vs 1000 Mbps

For many power users, the choice is often between these two internet plans. The final determining factor depends on how often they have to access high-quality or high-resolution content and how-many concurrent users are active at any given time.

* Prices are approximate and can vary greatly depending on service, duration, location etc.

300 Mbps vs 500 Mbps

A 300 downlink /300 uplink internet plan is more than enough for most users. So, for cost saving purposes, I would suggest to subscribe to 300 Mbps internet plan if you don’t have very heavy download or upload requirements.

The best advice I can give you is to start with a 300 Mbps plan first and then upgrade to 500 Mbps only if needed.

One strong reason to select a 500/500 Mbps internet plan is when you upload a lot of data (in the order of hundreds of Gigabytes) to online storage or to cloud backup services. In such a case, a 500 Mbps uplink speed will be much better compared to a 300/300 Mbps plan.

Comparison Table of 100Mbps, 300Mbps, 500Mbps, 1000Mbps

* Prices are approximate and can vary greatly depending on service, duration, location etc.

How to Measure Internet Speed

With all the discussion about internet speeds, you might be curious about what your plan’s current speed is.

Doing so will also help you gauge how much you need to upgrade.

There are only two simple steps to determine your provider’s internet speed. These are:

1. Make sure to directly connect your computer to the router or modem. This can easily be done by connecting the ethernet cable directly to the modem. This will help you get a more accurate reading, as opposed to connecting over wireless internet.
2. The second step is to open your browser and access online speed test services. Some popular services you might want to try are Ookla, Fast.com, TestMy.net, Speedof.me etc. Any of these services will instantly show your provider’s internet speed and other helpful data.

Popular USA Internet Providers

Before ending this article, here are some of the popular and reliable Internet Service Providers in the country. We hope that this list will help you find the perfect plan and provider.

1. Comcast Xfinity. If you’re considering a connection via Cable or Fiber, we highly recommend Comcast Xfinity. This provider offers high-speed and ultra-fast internet of up to 2 Gbps.
2. AT&T. Another popular provider with more connectivity options is AT&T. It offers Fiber and Cellular connectivity with speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
3. Charter Spectrum. For cable connectivity, Charter Spectrum is the most reliable. This provider offers internet speeds of up to 940 Mbps.
4. Verizon (FIOS service). For the best Fiber internet with advertised speeds of up to 2 Gbps, Verizon offers the best service.

Is 300Mbps or 500Mbps Good for Gaming

300 Mbps and 500 Mbps internet speeds are sufficient for most consumer-level use, including competitive gaming.

As mentioned before, online gaming can work with even 2-5Mbps, so for sure 300Mbps or 500Mbps is more than enough for competitive online gaming.

Competitive gaming focuses more on end-to-end latency rather than bandwidth, so its more important to keep latency low rather than having such a high speed internet connection. A ping of less than 5 ms is ideal.

To keep latency (ping) low, here are some tips:

• Use fiber optic internet if available in your area. Fiber internet has better RTT (Rount Trip Time) and lower latency compared to cable or Fixed Wireless Access (FWA).
• Wired connections are preferable over Wi-Fi connections for gaming to maintain low latency.
• Connecting to the modem via Wi-Fi can cause delay issues, especially in crowded Wi-Fi environments like apartments.
• Some users recommend using QoS or SQM on the primary router to ensure a smooth gaming experience, especially if sharing the internet connection.

Final Thoughts

As long as you are aware of your home internet requirements, looking for the ideal internet speed plan won’t be a problem.

We recommend starting smaller at the beginning and grow according to your needs later on. Don’t go and spend on a 500Mbps or Gigabit plan from the very beginning. We believe that a 100 or 300 Mbps plan will be great for most home network needs.

This is the biggest message that you can get from our comparison of these internet speed plans.

With the information we’ve discussed above, we hope that you finally make up your mind and make a smart decision. Also, keep in mind that while it’s tempting to upgrade to ultra-fast internet, it’s not always the best option for your pocket!!