What is internet speed and Ping
Internet speed is how fast you can download and upload data from internet to your device. Download speed is how fast you can receive data. In most cases it is mostly use, as all your internet activity is receiving data from the sites you visit.
Upload data is now fast you can upload to the internet. It matters most if you have some specific usecases which requires you sending massive amount of data. For example you are a content creator and frequently upload large videos to YouTube, or stream on twitch. Or, you do a lot of video calls and large files uploads to drive or dropbox etc.
Ping is the responsiveness of your internet. That is how quickly you can send and receive data to and from the website you are connecting to.
Understand these terms with an analogy
Let's think internet as a pipe, one big fat pipe and one narrow pipe. When you connect water in one end it takes some time to reach the other end of the pipe, that is latency. For a small amount of water (which is your general browsing) the thicknesw of the pipe is not important. How quick the water reaches the other end is important. But for huge amount of water (i.e. when you are downloading big files) the pipe thickness matters
Things you should keep in your mind. (Don't spend extra on faster internet)
- Your ISP charges more for faster download (i.e. a bigger pipe) and upload speed. Not for faster pings. And from the above example it should be very clear to you that after a certain speed your I internet is not going to feel snappier.
- For a rough measurement take your family headcount and multiplying with 25 Mbps. That is how much you need for normal browsing, streaming Netflix in 4K etc. If you are a gamers or download very large files, you will be limited by the server's speed when you go beyond 500 Mbps. If multiple people downloads leave files simultaneously then a faster speed may make sense.
- But some ISPs don't offer similar upload speed as the download speed. In that case, the upload speed becomes the deterministic factor. If you do a lots of video calls, go for atleast 5-10 Mbps per simultaneous call. If you need large file uploads then get as much as possible again upto that 200-300Mbps limit. Beyond that you will be limited by the server's speed rather than your home internet.
Spend more for a Fiber Connection (PING matters)
After a certain point more speed becomes useless and your internet experience mainly depends on the latency or ping. To get the best interest experience this thing should be kept in mind
- Fiber is the best in terms of latency. Amoun fiber there are several variations, in general fiber to the home (ftth) is the fastest, fttp (premises) is also fast but slightly worse than the first option. The less the copper line is, the better.
- After fiber comes the dsl broadband over cable lines or phone lines. They too are pretty good if the offer decent speed. But can't rival fiber.
- 4G, 5G connections are somewhat stable in terms of latency but a physical connection is always better.
- Starlink is becoming pretty good for stable connections in remote locations. Although it cannot rival fiber or phone line. It may sometimes be better than the 4G or 5G connections but, mostly it is worse, and should be reserved only for remote locations.
- Satelite internets other than starlink uses GEO sats, which are terrible for browsing. Starlink is LEO sat. In future when more LEO sat come online (kuiper, oneweb) starlink will have competition.