How to
Determine how much internet speed you need
If you′re looking to optimize your current home internet, upgrade to a faster plan, or sign up for new internet service, you may want to determine how much internet speed you need to power your household.
How can I test my internet speed?
To determine how much speed you need, first find out the speed of your current internet service. Before you begin, you may want to consider a few things:
- You might want to check your device speed and your Wi-Fi® gateway speed. If you have AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber®, you'll need to sign into your account to test the speed between your AT&T Wi-Fi Gateway and the AT&T network. You don't need to be an AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber customer to check your device speed with this test.
- All devices connected to your home network share bandwidth—the maximum rate you can download and upload data from the internet to your devices. While you can't choose which devices get faster speeds, you can potentially increase your internet speed for the devices you are using by disconnecting other devices that aren’t in use.
- Wired and Wi-Fi speeds may be different. You may find that your wired connection, sometimes called an ethernet connection, is faster than your Wi-Fi connection. This is because Wi-Fi uses a common transmission medium, whereas ethernet is a dedicated connection.
- The AT&T speed test shows your baseline speeds. The speed test takes less than a minute and checks two key measurements: Download speed and upload speed. Download speed measures how quickly you can receive data online. Most online activity involves downloading, like viewing web pages, streaming video, and gaming. Upload speed measures how quickly you can send data from your device to the internet. Many online activities involve uploading, including video chats and live streaming video.
How can I test my device speeds?
You may want to check the speed between your Wi-Fi device and the internet. If your device can only handle a maximum Mbps (megabits per second) rate that is lower than the plan you signed up for, you will only be able to go as fast as your device allows.
Before you get started:
- Disconnect all other devices on your network to avoid Wi-Fi congestion, even if they aren't using internet.
- Disable household devices that may create wireless interference, such as Bluetooth® devices, wireless phones, baby monitors, and other wireless video devices.
Next, follow the steps to test the speed of a device or computer over Wi-Fi:
- Ensure the wireless device has a clear line of sight, about ten feet from your Wi-Fi gateway.
- Close apps on the device you're testing.
Now you can check your device speed.
What is a good internet speed?
If you'd like to determine the optimal internet speed for your household, there are some helpful guidelines in the chart for average internet users.
If you or someone in your household uses your home internet for demanding activities, like elite gaming, you might consider a higher speed tier than indicated. Keep in mind—availability for different internet service providers and plans varies by address.
SPEED | CAPABILITIES |
|---|---|
25Mbps |
|
50Mbps |
|
100Mbps |
|
500Mbps |
|
1,000Mbps (1 GIG) |
|
2Speed/time examples are estimates and based on wired connection to gateway.
3Other factors besides network latency may have an impact on game lag; individual results will vary.
What's the best home internet plan for me?
If you're interested in AT&T Internet service, first check the availability at your address.
Depending on availability in your area, you might choose an AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber plan. If you're already an AT&T Internet customer and have determined you need a faster internet plan, you can check to see if you are eligible to upgrade to a faster AT&T Fiber plan.
If you need a lot of speed, you might consider one of AT&T's fastest gigabit internet plans. There are 1,000 megabits (MB) in 1 gigabit (GB), so these plans offer some serious speed.
More articles and resources
Learn more
AT&T Internet speed test
Check the upload and download speeds of your connected devices or AT&T Wi-Fi Gateway.
