Bandwidth and internet speed: broadband comparison guide

With a cross-section of broadband Internet connection speeds on offer, it can be hard to know what to choose. If you need help selecting broadband that is right for you, the following is a quick guide to what is available on the Australian market.

Slowest broadband: email and web surfing

If you want broadband for nothing more than checking your emails and skimming the news headlines, you shouldn't pay for more than you need. A connection between 512 kilobits per second (kbit/s) and one megabit per second (mbit/s) will save you money. Given that you won't be downloading large files (apart from the occasional graphic heavy webpage), a super-fast connection is unnecessary and photos, radio stations and general content will still be easily streamed on a connection of this speed.

Medium speed broadband: moderate downloading and VoIP

If you plan to do a fair amount of downloading via the Net (audio files, video files, software programs, etc), or wish to use "Voice over Internet Protocol" (VoIP, making phone calls over the Internet) programs, such as Skype, a connection of roughly two to four mbit/s (mbps) is advised.

Fast Internet: frequent downloading, large files, video VoIP

If your main (or sole) Internet use consists of downloading considerable quantities of music and large-size video files, in addition to using VoIP with webcams (for video calling) or playing video games online, you would almost certainly be better suited to a connection between four and eight mbit/s.

Super fast internet: frequent online video games and downloading

If you are a frequent user of fast online video gaming, slow or moderate broadband connections may still allow latency (lag or "slowdown") within a video game. This can make games largely unplayable and a faster connection of between eight and 24 mbit/s can fix the problem. This broadband speed would also suit those frequently downloading large quantities of music and high-quality video files - or those too impatient to accent any degree of delay between mouse click and response. ADSL2+ is currently the fastest consumer Internet connection, with speeds up to 480 times that of dial-up.

Comparative chart of broadband speeds

*If you are thinking of downloading an mp3 music file, for example, they generally range between three megabytes (MB) and five MB in size. Using the above table, multiply download speed by four to get the average time it takes to download an mp3 file. A full-length movie or feature film is usually between 700 MB and one gigabyte (GB).

ADSL, cable, or wireless?

When discussing cable, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), wireless or satellite Internet, is can be tricky to understand how they compare in terms of speed. Technically, this will depends on the type of package you opt for. Although it could be argued that cable is faster than ADSL, a two mbit/s cable connection will, naturally, be slower than an eight mbit/s ADSL connection. On the whole, satellite doesn't offer connection speeds as high as those available with cable or ADSL, but a one mbit/s connection, for example, is equally fast on satellite as it is from any other service.

I'm paying for eight mbit/s - but it doesn't feel like it!

One thing you should always note is that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) do not guarantee Internet speeds. When you select a particular Internet plan, connection speed quoted by your ISP is the maximum speed. If you are planning on surfing the Net at peak hours, i.e. the evening, everyone else in your neighbourhood will probably choose the same time, meaning that you will rarely reach maximum speed. Also, if you have more than one computer using the same Internet connection, speed will diminish. You may feel that, despite this, you are getting a poor deal. If this is the case, or even if you are simply curious, Internet connection speed checking programmes are readily available on the Internet and are almost always free. Once you have selected the Internet connection speed that suits you, it is good practice to make sure that you are getting a fair deal thereafter.

Compare for yourself by viewing our ADSL plans, ADSL2+ plans and wireless broadband plans.