What Internet Speed Do I Need for a Smart Home?

What Internet Speed Do I Need for a Smart Home?

Are you interested in turning your home into a smart home? Having the right internet speed is essential in ensuring your smart home is convenient and not an annoyance. Keep reading to learn internet speed tips for smart homes!

What Is Internet Speed?

First, it’s essential to understand what internet speed is. Internet speed is how fast information can be uploaded or downloaded. Speed is measured in megabits per second or Mbps speed. You’ll need more internet speed, specifically download speed, to support more devices or smart devices. 

Different Devices Will Use Different Speeds

To determine the internet speed you will need, you need to consider two things:  your general internet speed requirements and what each smart device will need. Some standard smart devices that you may have and their speed recommendations include:

  • Video or smart cameras. Any camera you have, including smart doorbells, security cameras, and other smart cameras, will require about 2 Mbps per camera. 
  • Amazon Echo, Google Home, or other smart assistants. Any smart assistant that you have will require at least 1 Mbps to run. When these devices are idle and not interacted with, they will use less than 1 Mbps. 
  • Smart light switches or plugs. Smart light switches and plugs don’t use much internet speed to run. You can expect to use less than 1 Mbps for each of your smart switches or plugs. 

What speed You’d Need Without Smart Devices

The second step to figuring out what internet speed you need for your smart home is figuring out what you would need without considering smart devices. The following internet speed advice may help you determine general internet speed usage:

  • For simple internet usage for 1-2 people, including browsing the web and occasionally using a streaming service, you will need 40 Mbps. 
  • For 2-3 people, occasionally streaming on up to 2 devices and regular video calls, you may need 100 Mbps. 
  • For more than three people, gaming, or streaming on several devices, you will need more than 100 Mbps. 

What Internet Speed You Need

The best way to calculate what internet speed you’re going to need is to follow this advice: simply add your base speed usage needs plus the Mbps needed for each smart device. For example, if you have a home with 2-3 people, a smart camera, and an Amazon Alexa, you may need between 100-150 Mbps. A general rule is to always err on the side of caution and get more speed than you think you’ll need! 

Get Fast and Reliable Internet in Your Smart Home

Adding smart devices to your home is a great way to have your home be comfortable and convenient. You shouldn’t have to worry about slow or laggy internet speeds! Following these internet speed tips for smart homes will help you keep your internet from slowing down. For always reliable internet, find the internet plan that’s right for you with Nomad Internet.

3 comments
  • IL
    Ilya

    A clear breakdown on the shelves – how to calculate the Internet speed for a smart home. Of course, I would also like to know about the required upload speed, because many smart devices actively transmit information to the network, and not just receive it from the network. And, by the way, it is important to pay attention to this fact when choosing a tariff and ISP. Sometimes the base speed in the tariff is the download speed. And the upload speed can be an order of magnitude, or even two, lower. Remember, there used to be such an ADSL?

  • AN
    Ana Rys

    Thank you for such an interesting article! It’s great I read it now because I’m thinking of installing the smart home system in my house. So it turns out I don’t need high speed internet for my needs. The author did a good job on giving examples of internet usage. Also I didn’t expect voice assistants need only 1mbs, it seems so little but voice assistants are such a great help, so it’s a relief! Overall, the article is very informative for everyone curious about smart home technology.

  • ST
    Stacy Haze

    This is an interesting article! Even though smart home is not something everyone can afford, it’s important to understand that any person should have information on how to control internet speed. Knowing what internet speed is better according to your needs will save your time and money. It’s great that there are actual numbers in the article, it makes it easier to calculate what speed you need.

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