Is 25 Mbps download speed good for gaming & other Internet purposes?

Whether being a gamer, or someone who works from home, your download speed matters. 

Have you wondered “Is 25 Mbps download speed good for gaming as well as other activities?

“What is a good download speed?” 

Learn about good download speeds and check out why “download speed not matching speed test” in this post. 

Do not miss out on this helpful downloading article!

Is 25 Mbps download speed good for gaming?

Download speed

First, it’s worth going through some basics of download speed!

What does download speed mean?

Maybe you are familiar with download and upload speed on the speed test Internet. 

Download speed is the speed at which digital data is sent from the Internet to your computer. Upload speed is the rate at which online data is delivered from your computer to the Internet.

That’s also the major difference between these two speeds.

Because upload speed is only noticeable when attempting to transfer huge files, download speed is far more significant for the ordinary user. 

It is common for your upload speed to be one-tenth that of your download speed. 

Fiber Internet customers, on the other hand, frequently enjoy symmetrical (or identical) download and upload speeds.

Download and upload are different

What is Mbps?

Bandwidth/download speed/upload speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps). 

Megabits are the Internet connection's lifeblood. 

It is, however, easy to mistake with MBps, which refers to megabytes per second and the size of the file you are downloading.

Your Mbps requirements are now determined by how you primarily use the Internet. 

Mbps isn’t similar to MBps

How fast is 25 Mbps?

To understand how quick 25 Mbps is, compare it to other speeds. 

A 25 Mbps connection, for instance, may easily support 1-2 users.

Up to 1080p HD streaming is supported, and online pages load quickly. 

Also, it can run most online games as long as there are no more than two individuals connected.

You can connect up to 5 people effortlessly, stream 4K videos, and play online games with up to 5 people connected.

It’s faster than rates of 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps.

25 Mbps is quite good

In short, depending on your Internet demands, 25 Mbps may be fast or slow for you. 

For the majority of users, 25 Mbps—which is neither too fast nor too slow—is the ideal speed.

Is 25 Mbps speed good for gaming?

As stated by FCC, online gaming requires an upload speed of 1 Mbps and a download speed of 3 Mbps.

Thus, a 25 Mbps download speed is enough for smooth online gaming if you’re the only user of the Internet connection, as previously mentioned.

In case there are other users and you can’t control how they use your Internet, you need to upgrade the Internet packet.

25 Mbps is ideal for one-Internet-user gaming

So, what is good download and upload speed for gaming? 

Let’s find out detailedly in the next parts.

Is 25 Mbps download speed good for streaming?

In general, at least 3 Mbps download speed is fast enough to stream standard definition content.

However, if more than one device is used at the same time, the speed will need to be at least 5 Mbps to perform better. 

Nowadays, there are a lot of 4K or Ultra HD videos, so that if your Internet connections are less than 25 Mbps, you can not have a good experience. 

So, 25 Mbps is quite ideal for watching video streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, etc right?

25 Mbps is good for streaming video

Still, if you use multiple devices watching 4K video at the same time, what Internet speed you will need is 40 Mbps.

For live television streaming services like YouTube TV, Sling TV, and Hulu+ Live, the Internet speed requires higher than that of on-demand streaming.

Is 25 Mbps download speed good for working from home?

In front of the serious development of the Covid pandemic, many people are allowed to work from home more often or learn remotely.

At home, many people have trouble transferring to the Internet. 

Some people can not send a file of 25 Mb to the boss.

Look at the picture below to know if your download speed is fast!

Internet requirements for some online activities

It can be clearly seen that a 2 Mbps download speed is sufficient for those who only use email, social media, and audio conference calls on one device at a time.

The basic working tasks require low Mbps of download and upload speed.

Yet, a 25 Mbps download speed or higher is desirable for those having multiple people working from home or using streaming services simultaneously.

Despite that, the higher the upload/download speed, the quicker and more complicated task you can do with the Internet connection.

Read also: Download speeds up to 60 mbps

What is a good download speed?

For a typical home, you will often see a figure of 25 or so Mbps download speed.

In fact, if you want a good Internet connection, you must have a download speed faster than 25 Mbps. 

At this rate, you can do most Internet-based activities smoothly without a lag, or interruption. 

What is a good download speed for gaming?

What is a fast download speed? 

If you truly want amazing, fast Internet, you should look for speeds of at least 100 Mbps. 

This rate is suitable for data hogs such as streaming 4K video, playing heavy-graphic online games, and more.

The higher the download speed, the better it is

Moreover, the experience of utilizing an Internet connection is determined by numerous aspects, including:

• How many devices are connected and active at the same time?

• How many people use Netflix, YouTube, or another video-streaming service?

• Are you playing competitive online games on your home WiFi?

• Do you have to deliver big files for work on a regular basis?

• Do you often stream 4K videos, or do you prefer to perform simple Internet tasks?

• Do you become easily annoyed when your game lags or your website takes a long time to load?

Why do my download speeds not match my speed test?

Now, you know what a good download speed is.

However, sometimes your speed isn’t similar to the testing result.

Believe it or not, download speed not matching speed test results is quite common.

Here is the list of possible reasons for unequal between the test download speed and the real one.

• VPN (a virtual private network): The test tool will measure the speed of the VPN if you turn on the VPN while using the test

• Just test once: You may conduct a test at a peak hour when everyone tries to connect to the Internet; thus, the download speed becomes very bad. 

The testing results are more neutral if you test your network several times per day and take an average speed.

• Wifi interference: There could be wifi interference and your Wifi connection is worse. 

Those interferences are able to cause errors in your testing process. 

You should take notice of Microwave and Bluetooth because they use the same frequency as Wireless networks. 

Besides, building materials like concrete, glass, wood also impact Wifi signal transmission.

Wifi interference blocks wifi signal strength

• ISP hosted test: Sometimes, ISP (Internet service providers) recommends you to use its download speed test. 

However, these tools might not reflect the rest of the world and often show faster speed than they should. 

Therefore, selecting a reliable, independent tool such as MySpeed, Fast, Speedtest Ookla is your best choice.

That’s some reason causing the difference between the actual and testing result.

Check it out and avoid it if you are in that situation.