As you set yourself up to work remotely, you may keep wondering what Internet speeds you need for seamless working experience.

For most people, the decision about their home Internet bandwidth is never made from the perspective of working from home. Instead, they decide based on access to entertainment like Netflix and other streaming platforms. The concept of working remotely fits into the existing Internet installation. In the long run, they end up having an undesired experience.

What Internet speed do I need?

The Internet speed required to work from home depends on your productivity applications. Not all work apps are massive bandwidth consumers. For instance, those performing basic tasks like replying to messages on Slack or sending emails need speeds simple as 1 Mbps. However, those on video calls or voice calls require much more than that, as guided by the application in use.

 Video calling apps, from Zoom to Skype, and Hangouts, can perform well 2 Mbps. The more the number of screens, the higher your bandwidth needs. For example, 2 Mbps upload speeds can support a single screen Zoom meeting, but that may prove challenging for dual screens where you will need 4 Mbps.

You can save more bandwidth consumption if you cut out the video feed and focused on an audio call. However, for those who have to share their screens, it goes without saying that you will need the video connection, hence more bandwidth usage.

The recommendation regarding the Internet speeds required further changes for those who need VPN access to their company servers. Even if you have a faster connection via the web, connections through the VPN tend to slow down. That is particularly true in crowded organizations.  

How can I measure my Internet speeds?

Different tools exist for measuring your Internet speeds. The two most popular ones are Fast.com and Speedtest.net. These tools gauge both the upload and download speeds. Simply access any of these sites and click on the “Run Speed Test” buttons. The wording may vary depending on the site accessed.

As you can see from the results obtained from your Speed Test, there are variants – download speed and upload speed. Download speed represents the number of Mbps it takes to download data from the server. The data may be in the form of audio, video, images, files, and more. That is equivalent to downloading an attachment from Gmail. Always choose download speeds that will help you quickly get the online files to your local machine. Make sure that you pay significant attention to your download speeds.

Upload speeds refer to the Mbps that you can send from your computer to other devices or servers via the Internet. Whereas your most common activities may involve downloading information, there are times when you have to upload data. For instance, when replying to emails or sending images.

Bottom line

The exact Internet speeds required to work remotely mainly depends on what you will be doing. For those who intend to perform simple tasks like sending email and text messages, you may not require a high-end connection. The need for faster speeds increases as the user becomes more sophisticated. For example, those on VPN will need speeds of up to 25 Mbps for easy connections.

Nomad Internet provides reliable high-speed Internet made for those that live in any rural and/or those that travel. We do this by combining the latest cellular technology of all four major providers with a single plan. And we can have you up and running in as little as 24 to 48 hours!