What Internet speed is needed for 4K video: an unexpected answer

Hi all! And today we are again sorting out the nonsense that is written on other sites regarding the question of what kind of Internet speed is needed to watch movies in 4K. The funny thing, gentlemen, is that on the very first site they say the speed is 25 Mbit per second. What kind of poor quality a film must be to fit into this channel. In theory, this speed may be enough, but only if there is no sound, no HDR, and the number of frames per second does not exceed 24.

In general, I decided to deal with this topic more thoroughly, and now I will tell you everything in as much detail as possible. In fact, the question, and the problem of speed itself, is very multifaceted and has many small nuances, so I advise you to read all the additional articles, which I will give below.

The main questions when choosing Internet speed

To correctly determine the broadband connection speed you will need, just answer a few simple questions:

• what are you going to do on the Internet: watch movies, chat with friends on social networks, play online games, download files, browse the web in a browser, and so on;
• how many devices will be connected to Wi-Fi or wired Internet at the same time, as well as what you are going to do on them. It is necessary to count all computers, televisions with set-top boxes, smartphones, tablets and even smart home gadgets;
• Is it possible that in the future the Internet will be used for other purposes? For example, you first connect it for social networks, but assume that you may need to download something.

The real benefits of 4K

If we compare some of the top video resolutions, UltraHD, or in other words, 4K, is in the first position. There are so many people, so many opinions, but one thing can be said – TVs with diagonals larger than 40 inches broadcast video in 4K quality at the highest level.

Watching a movie in high definition, the quality of which leaves only amazing impressions - what could be better? And if you play one of your favorite games, where the graphics are thought out to the smallest detail, right down to the grains of dust, then UltraHD will reflect this better than anyone else.

Note! The coolest thing is high-quality digitized analog recordings. Even the older generation is no longer indignant that old films used to be more lively than at this time. 4K will help add color to films.

In addition, the 4K display allows you to purchase colossal-sized TVs. After all, on a 75-inch screen, video of such quality is displayed as if in FullHD. Accordingly, after moving a few meters away, lovers of the highest quality will not notice the annoying squares.

In addition, to find out in detail the benefits of 4K resolution, you can refer to the information below:

• The picture is clearly detailed thanks to the use of proprietary quality technologies, as well as due to the fact that the concentration of pixels has noticeably increased. Therefore, it is easier for the human eye to perceive the displayed picture;
• The frame rate reaches 120 fps. Subsequently, the eyes are not heavily strained, fatigue does not come after an hour of watching a video, even if you need to sit in front of the TV on for a day;
• most color shades can appear much deeper;
• By increasing the dynamic range, too light or, conversely, dark parts of the picture are displayed more clearly. The variety of colors conveys the best color quality;
• This also affected the sound frequency - the sound became many times cleaner, because UltraHD TVs provide multi-channel sound.

How to choose the right Internet speed

Below we will look at the table of Internet speeds that may be needed for certain purposes.

All presented Internet speed variations are available for connection to Rostelecom clients using different technologies.

Attention! It is recommended to choose a tariff plan with a reserve, since the speed may depend not only on the tariff itself, but also on some other factors.

Why do you need internet of more than 30 Mbit/sec?

In exceptional cases, I might recommend using a faster connection of 50 Mbps or more. Not many providers in Kyiv will be able to provide such a speed in full, the Kyivstar company is not the first year in this market and quite inspires confidence, all the more important is the stability of the connection, and I want to believe that they are at their best here. A high speed Internet connection may be necessary when working with large amounts of data (downloading and uploading it from the network). Perhaps you are a fan of watching movies in excellent quality, or download large games every day, or upload large videos or work files to the Internet. To check the connection speed, you can use various online services, and to optimize the work you need to perform the following steps.

By the way, a speed of 3 Mbit/s and lower usually makes working on the network a little unpleasant, not all sites with online video work well, and downloading files is generally not pleasant.

Streaming services

For high-quality operation of popular streaming services, a fairly high Internet speed is also desirable, because many companies offer 4K video quality and the usual Full HD will surprise few people. And with the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic, services such as HBO Now, Netflix, etc. reported a colossal increase in server load (on some platforms the increase was more than 60%), due to an increase in online content views. If you plan to play on Amazon Twitch, a good internet connection will also come in handy, especially since the load on their servers has also increased in 2021. Now there are not 33 million users, but as many as 43 million.

Be that as it may, today there is plenty to choose from in the Internet services market. Sometimes, in addition to global providers, the Internet is offered by local companies, and often the level of their service is also excellent. This is the small organization that serves me. The cost of services in such companies is, of course, much lower than that of large companies, but as a rule, their coverage is very insignificant, usually within an area or two.

What Internet speed is required for different purposes?

Below we will look at additional tables that will help you choose the speed for yourself even more effectively.

To download files

Let's imagine that you need to download a 1 gigabyte file to your computer. Its loading time directly depends on your speed:

It is worth noting that the time in the table is indicated for a stable connection without a drop in speed during downloading.

For video communication, interactive TV and video viewing

The download speed required to watch videos depends on the quality of the image itself. This applies to YouTube, interactive television, Skype, and so on. Below is a visual table.

What else is important to pay attention to?

In the vast majority of cases, the connection speed stated in the tariff may differ from the actual one - when concluding an agreement, it indicates an obligation to provide speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s. That is, there is not a word about the minimum speed.

To avoid making a mistake with your choice, you can study reviews of providers, and if you have already connected and have any doubts, you can easily check the speed using a variety of tools. For example, ours.

In our case, when speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s were promised, the actual incoming speed was 71, and the outgoing speed was 98 Mbit/s, which is quite close to the declared one.

If your testing shows serious discrepancies, file a claim with the provider. There is a high probability that specialists will be able to detect and fix the problem. If they don’t respond to your request, just change your provider.

How to test your speed online

If you have already connected to the Internet, but do not know your speed, you can use free services to determine it. Let's look at the instructions for one of the most popular:

1. Follow the link: https://www.speedtest.net/ .
2. Your IP address, ISP and DNS server are displayed here. Press GO to start the speed test.

3. Wait while the site evaluates your connection.
4. After the test, you will see your latency to the server, as well as your download and upload speed.

Wired or mobile Internet?

However, let’s return from the “star” perspectives to the existing reality. If you live in an ordinary metropolis or near regional centers, then satellite Internet will be an unreasonably expensive choice compared to wired and mobile Internet.

When choosing between these two options, you can immediately say that it is better to use wired Internet - connecting to the provider via cable. This choice provides greater protection from external (for example, weather) conditions and can provide higher connection speeds.

There are several types of wired connections, the main ones being twisted pair and fiber optic network cable.

Type #1 - twisted pair

A twisted pair is one or more pairs of insulated, twisted wires covered with a plastic sheath. Due to its low cost and ease of installation, it is the most common type for laying wire (cable) networks.

Type #2 - fiber optic network cable

Today, there is no faster technology than optical fiber. It has no limit on the length of channels, which means it can connect objects that are very far from each other. Through fiber optic cables laid along the bottom of oceans and seas, high-speed Internet connects not only cities, but also continents.

There are many advantages of fiber optic cable that specialists will appreciate more (durability, speed of detection of unauthorized access, high level of protection against interference, and so on). For the average user, the most important advantage of this connection option is the high speed of information transfer.

So, let's draw the line - both options can be used for connection, but fiber optic cable has more advantages (although it is less common).

What can determine Internet speed?

If, after checking the speed, the result obtained does not match that specified in your tariff plan, this may be due to several reasons:

• actions of third parties and organizations that are not controlled by Rostelecom;
• your line is too busy with too many users, causing your speed to drop;
• problems in the computer, laptop, phone, tablet or TV itself;
• faulty technical equipment;
• you are connected to the network via Wi-Fi and are too far from the router;
• There are other devices connected to the network that are taking up traffic.

Satellite Internet

The most rare, but promising connection option. Now it is used mainly by business representatives and residents in rural areas where there are no alternative connection options.

A set of equipment may include several devices. Included with this:

• satellite dish,
• transmitting and receiving device
• satellite modem.

The approximate cost of equipment for satellite Internet starts from 9990 rubles (Tricolor, on promotion), and access fees: from 1300 to 5000-6000 or more rubles per month.

However, competition in the satellite Internet market is constantly increasing, which naturally leads to lower prices. Breakthrough technologies and cheap satellite Internet are promised to the entire planet by Elon Musk - on May 24, 2021, his company SpaceX has already launched 60 low-orbit satellites, the number of which is planned to be increased to 11,943.

The signal from all these satellites will be transmitted with minimal delay to compact ground terminals (no larger than a laptop), and then sent to client devices: PCs, laptops, smartphones, etc.

Elon Musk promises record low prices and high speed of information transfer - the company’s ambitious plan to capture the global market applies to 50% of Internet users on the planet. All that remains is to wait for the full deployment of the network called Starlink and enjoy the Internet from space.