Choosing the Right Internet Speed for Your Community

By John Person / Published October 2021

Overview

     Since broadband providers offer such a wide range of internet speeds, it can be challenging to choose the right plan that meets your community’s needs and provides the best value. With residents spending more time at home than ever before, it’s important to understand how the plan you choose impacts their internet experience.

Speed vs. Bandwidth

     The first step to selecting the right internet package is understanding the difference between speed and bandwidth. Speed is the actual upload/download rate of data passing through your network; bandwidth is the amount of data that can travel through your network at any given time. Therefore, an internet plan with a higher bandwidth can handle more high-speed traffic at once.

Specific Needs of Residents

     The unique lifestyles and demographics of your residents can help you determine the amount of bandwidth each household requires. For example, if the profile of your community consists of mostly retirees, they likely have fewer connected devices than young families. An internet plan of 250 Mbps, which can support around 10 devices at the same time, would be sufficient for their property. However, a young family that works remotely, games online, and streams multiple video services—all while keeping their smart devices such as video doorbells and virtual assistants connected—would greatly benefit from a gigabit (1,000 Mbps) plan that can support 20-plus devices.

Conclusion

     Once you determine the internet plan that matches your residents’ current needs, it’s also helpful to consider how they will be using the internet in the future. Recently, bandwidth usage has been doubling every 20 months. If you are entering a long-term contract, the right network and the right provider can set your community up for many successful years to come. 

John Person

Director of Bulk Sales, Select Communities

     John Person is director of bulk sales, select communities. For more information on Atlantic Broadband and to talk to John, email jperson@atlanticbb.com, call (786) 503-2994, or visit www.atlanticbb.com/select-communities.