Broadband Speed & Data Usage Calculator
Calculate the broadband speed your household needs and how long any download or upload takes at your current speed.
Broadband Speed Guide
Bandwidth Requirements
Bandwidth required by activity: 4K streaming (Netflix UHD): 25 Mbps per stream. HD streaming (1080p): 5-8 Mbps per stream. SD streaming (720p): 3-4 Mbps. Video call HD (Zoom, Teams): 3.8 Mbps per call. Online gaming: 10-30 Mbps (latency matters more than speed). Browsing/email: 1-3 Mbps. Smart home devices: 1-3 Mbps total. Total for an average UK household (2-3 people, 1-2 streams, some gaming): 30-50 Mbps is comfortable. For 4+ people with 4K streaming: 100+ Mbps recommended.
Broadband Technologies
ADSL (copper telephone line): up to 24 Mbps download. Average real-world: 10-17 Mbps. Being phased out. FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet — superfast): 30-80 Mbps typical. Uses fibre to street cabinet, copper to home. Most common type. FTTP / Full Fibre (Fibre to the Premises): 100-900+ Mbps. Fibre all the way to the home. Most reliable. Increasingly available (Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre). Cable (Virgin Media): 100-1100+ Mbps. Coaxial cable infrastructure. 5G home broadband: 50-300+ Mbps using
Download Times
Converting file size to download time: time = file_size_GB × 8000 / speed_Mbps / 60 (in minutes). 1GB = 8,000 megabits. Common download sizes: Netflix HD episode (1hr): approximately 3 GB. 4K episode: approximately 7 GB. PlayStation game: 50-100 GB. Windows 11 update: 5-20 GB. 4K Blu-ray quality file: 50-80 GB. At 67 Mbps: 50 GB download = 50 × 8000 / 67 / 60 = 99.5 minutes ≈ 1 hour 40 min. At 1 Gbps full fibre: same download in 6.7 minutes. Peak time contention: advertised speeds are 'up to' va
Data Caps and Unlimited
Most UK broadband packages are now 'unlimited' — but check the fair use policy. Some unlimited packages throttle speeds after 100-500 GB of high-usage. Who needs to watch data: mobile broadband (4G/5G dongles and home routers) often have strict data caps — 100GB, 200GB, or truly unlimited. At 4K streaming: Netflix 4K uses approximately 7 GB/hour. 4 hours/day × 30 days = 840 GB/month just for one 4K stream. Most FTTP home broadband packages: genuinely unlimited with no throttling. Routers: the ro
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