What is a good internet speed for streaming TV, movies, and music?
An internet connection of 100Mbps is a good speed for streaming TV, movies, and more. That gives you plenty of bandwidth to stream in 1080p and even 4K in a household of two to four people.
But you should consider getting an internet plan with faster speeds if you live in a larger household or spend a lot of time doing more intensive streaming activities like using VR and hosting livestreams. Download speeds of 300Mbps and up give you a lot more capacity to handle a variety of online tasks on many devices at once.
Looking for a sweet internet plan that can get you enough bandwidth to binge-watch Succession or Good Girls? Run a search with your zip code below to see all your options.
Speed requirements for streaming services
Streaming service | Recommended speed for HD | Recommended speed for 4K |
---|---|---|
Netflix | 5Mbps | 25Mbps |
Hulu | 3Mbps | 16Mbps |
Disney+ | 5Mbps | 25Mbps |
Paramount+ | 4Mbps | 25Mbps |
Apple TV+ | 5Mbps | 25Mbps |
Peacock | 3–8Mbps | 25Mbps |
Amazon Prime Video | 5Mbps | 25Mbps |
YouTube / YouTube TV | 2.5–13Mbps | 20–25Mbps |
HBO Max | 3.1Mbps | 25Mbps |
Streaming services all have different recommended Wi-Fi speed standards for users, but the gist is that you want about 3 to 5Mbps speeds per device for HD resolution and at least 25Mbps per device for 4K resolution.
If you want to stream music, you’re in luck—music platforms take up a lot less bandwidth than video ones. If you have an internet plan with just 10Mbps download speeds (equating to anywhere from 1–5Mbps per user), you’re still good to go. In fact, according to our number crunching, you can stream your favorite tunes with less than 1Mbps at your disposal.
Music streaming speed recommendations
Service | Recommended speed (in Mbps) |
---|---|
Spotify | 0.32–0.64Mbps |
YouTube Music | 0.09–0.51Mbps |
Pandora | 0.13–0.38Mbps |
Amazon Music | 0.50–7.46Mbps |
Apple Music | 0.50–7.46Mbps |
iHeartRadio | 0.26Mbps |
SoundCloud | 0.26–0.51Mbps |
Tidal | 0.64–18.43Mbps |
Deezer | 0.13–2.28Mbps |
SiriusXM | 0.06–0.13Mbps |
TuneIn Radio | 0.64Mbps |
LiveXLive | 0.26–0.64Mbps |
Idagio | 0.38–2.82Mbps |
Primephonic | 0.64–18.43Mbps |
What to do if your internet speed is slower than expected
There are several reasons why your speed test results might be slower than you expected. Try these tips to see if you can get a more accurate reading:
- Disable your firewall temporarily (but don’t forget to turn it back on afterward) and rerun the test.
- Reboot your modem and router, and rerun the test.
- Unplug your router from the modem, plug a desktop or laptop into the modem’s Ethernet port, and rerun the test.
- Plug a desktop or laptop into one of the Ethernet ports on a gateway, rather than a modem or router, and rerun the test.
If you see inconsistent results, there might be a bottleneck. You can troubleshoot poor internet speeds with our guide on how to fix slow internet. However, your internet connection may just be slow due to either the selected plan or internet type.
If nothing helps, call your internet provider or look for a new one.
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