Is 100 Mbps good enough?
Grade 4 of 7: Acceptable (barely)
Triple digits. I am told this impresses people. It does not impress me.
100 Mbps download is grade 4 of 7 on the Speed Roast scale: Acceptable (barely). It carries 20 HD streams, 4 in 4K, and downloads a full game in 1 hour 29 minutes.
What 100 Mbps can do
- HD streamingYes
Around 20 HD streams at once before anything stutters.
- 4K streamingYes
About 4 4K streams at the same time.
- Video callsYes
Group calls in HD with other things running are fine. Upload speed matters more than download here.
- Online gamingYes
Playing needs very little bandwidth; what matters is ping. Game downloads and updates are where this speed shows.
- Working from homeYes
Calls, cloud documents, screen sharing and a colleague streaming in the next room, all at once.
Who it serves
A family home. Several screens at once, video calls during the day, a console updating in the background.
How long downloads take
| A song (5 MB) | under a second |
| A one-hour HD episode (2 GB) | 3 minutes |
| A film in 4K (15 GB) | 22 minutes |
| A modern console game (60 GB) | 1 hour 29 minutes |
Assumes the connection delivers about nine-tenths of 100 Mbps for the whole transfer, which a good line does and a busy one does not.
If your test said 100 Mbps
- Test on a cable if you can. Wi-Fi routinely halves a connection, and a test over Wi-Fi measures the router as much as the line.
- Check the speed your plan promises. Providers advertise an "up to" or "average" figure; a result well below it, on a cable, is worth a complaint.
- Test at different times. Cable and older networks slow down in the evening when the neighbourhood is home.
- If several people share this connection and it feels slow, the next plan tier up is usually the cheapest fix. A new router is the second.
Questions people ask
Is 100 Mbps good for streaming?
Yes for HD: about 20 streams at once. For 4K, roughly 4 at a time.
Is 100 Mbps good for gaming?
Yes. Playing online uses very little bandwidth; ping is what decides whether a game feels laggy. Downloads and updates are where the speed shows.
How many people can share 100 Mbps?
A family home. Several screens at once, video calls during the day, a console updating in the background.
How long does a 60 GB game take to download at 100 Mbps?
About 1 hour 29 minutes, assuming the connection actually delivers 100 Mbps for the whole download.
The grades are mine, applied to download speed. Streaming figures use the services’ published minimums with a margin. See how I work.