Internet Speed for Streaming (What Do You Need to Live Stream TV?)

There’s nothing worse than watching a TV show and having to deal with buffering. The best way to avoid that is to know the internet speed for streaming TV services.
Live TV streaming services operate over the internet. If your Mbps aren’t sufficient, you will deal with buffering or degradation in video quality. No one wants that.
An internet speed test is the best way to find out how fast your connection is. It’s simple to do and you get results in seconds.
Watch our video now on the internet speed required for streaming TV so you can watch your favorite shows and teams without buffering.
Quick Jump Sections:
0:00 - Minimum intenret speed for streaming
1:17 - What impacts internet speed?
3:25 - How much data you need to stream
4:54 - MBps and Mbps needed to live stream TV
5:48 - How to run an internet speed test
6:32 - On-demand streaming requirements
7:29 - Final thoughts
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[@FrugalRules]

How often do you deal with buffering when streaming live TV?

[@spaceghost4474]

Hardly ever. 🙂

[@FrugalRules]

@RyuHayabusa751 Thanks! For sure, you gotta go with what works best for you and eliminates any buffering.

[@FrugalRules]

@RyuHayabusa751 Smart move! Yep, that's something we're taking a look at. :)

[@marcaube7257]

Thank You for your video. Looking at our speed and devices I agree with all comments you have provided.
I have a firestick 4k upstairs on wifi that is 50mps in Canada provided by a real fiber system from Bell canada. The router/modem is downstairs in the corner. No issues ever with buffering on any streamer where we pay a fee to enjoy. We have the following on WIFI - 2 phones, 2 tablets, 1 laptop, 2 amazon Show devices, 2 firesticks, 3 Echo speakers, 1 yamaha Alexa soundbar = 13 devices and no issues at all using 50MPS in Canada. 5 of my immediate neighbors also use the same system with less devices and no issues. So much for everyone needing 500MPS or 1 GB. In Canada we can now get 3 GBS. Why? That's enough per second GPS for 60 residences. That is proof positive that high speed internet of 500mps or more like 1GPS is a waste of money. Possibly users need new router/modems. Which you indicated.

[@goingwithpurposeministries3372]

Thank you for the good advice!!!!!!!

[@dankelley9361]

Good review of what people should have if they want buffer free viewing. Please be more careful with terms like Mbps, megaBIT per second & MBps, MegaBYTE per second. Normal there’s 8 megabits per megabyte.

[@FrugalRules]

Thanks for pointing that out!

[@Crawfish68]

Love y’all’s channel. When it comes to live streaming services, which offers most on demand also?

[@FrugalRules]

Thanks! If you're including original content, Hulu Live is usually the best pick for on-demand content.

[@Lifegoalspodcast]

Great video thanks

[@dathyr1]

Thanks for this great video. I am a single streaming user and use the WOW cable internet which now gives me 270 Mbps download speed and a Ping of around 14. I just do HD streaming, I figure any 4k streaming is a bit of overkill at least for me. I hardly have any buffering now on my PC laptop, I7 processor, 1TB SSD drive, and direct ethernet cable connect to the WOW modem. I watch my Streaming on a 40 inch LCD screen connected via HDMI from the PC laptop. Starting now in June WOW cable is putting a top limit on data used(streaming, downloads, etc) so I will see how it goes on how close I get to that top limit number. I guess if I go over that number, I just have to pay extra for it. So far monthly cable bills the past couple of months since I cut the cord, has been 60 dollars for 300 Mbps speeds. Wow told me they would give me a notice if I approach the top data used number, and so far havent received any notice yet. take care.

[@FrugalRules]

Of course! It sounds like you've got a pretty decent setup, especially if you have no buffering and is within your budget. They should give you a notice. We're with Cox and they typically notify us with a couple of days left in the billing cycle, which is pretty rare for us.

[@stephennorth8309]

I know this video is a year old but I just stumbled upon it and I'm sure others are as well. Just note that it is "bits" and not "bytes" (mbps). There are 8 bits in one byte.
200 mbps is about 25mb per second.

[@FrugalRules]

Thanks for the input. That was addressed in another comment. 🙂

[@shoebert31]

The actual tv is a factor for streaming speed too correct? Like the hardware has a limit of the speed it can handle

[@spaceghost4474]

Great video!
I currently have X-finity 200mbps unlimited because they gave me a special price for 1 year.
As soon as that offer ends I will go back to the 100mbps unlimited plan, which is more than adequate for my needs since I'm the only one in my household.
If someone asks me, I usually tell them to go with unlimited data if there is more than one person streaming in their household, or if they're streaming a lot of 4k content, which will destroy your data cap in a hurry.
I would DEFINATELY recommend that they stay away from satellite internet if at all possible, because I have seen hardly any positive comments about it.
The comments that I read about it's quality and reliability are OVERWHELMINGLY negative.
Starlink seems to address the reliability and speed issues of satellite internet, but IMO it's much more expensive than wired internet of comparable speed. That's why Elon calls it "the better than nothing" internet service.
For rural areas it seems to be the answer, if you can afford it.

[@FrugalRules]

Thanks! Agreed, we think 100 Mbps should be enough for you as one person unless you're doing a lot of gaming/streaming a lot of 4k or something like that.
Excellent point on the satellite internet. We've had minimal experience with that - while traveling. It's often nowhere what you need and expensive to boot.

[@spaceghost4474]

@@FrugalRules Even with a lot of 4k streaming, the unlimited data means you are ok.

[@FrugalRules]

@@spaceghost4474 For sure.

[@kathleenwanek3964]

Do the number of devices in the home affect internet speed? I have 8 devices connected to internet and one person in the home.

[@FrugalRules]

Good question. Generally speaking, no it shouldn't impact it. It can depend on the network equipment used & devices connected but if you're not actively not using multiples at once you should notice minimal impact.

[@deevog]

Im watching this with 300 kb speed, imagine im living in poor conditions

[@user-nc9ky8ok6z]

Online gaming 50 GB you mean MB per hours 😊

[@b34n_matthew4r]

1:02 If you can even get cable then you'll be able to have good internet. People who don't have access to cable have trash internet, I don't even get 1mbps at home and it's sad.

[@justice_1337]

I moved from an apartment that had fiber, to a rural home that had 5 mbps sadface. A year later they offered 10 mbps with a new modem that used both copper pairs and combined 2 internet lines. Speedtest shows 12.6 mbps and somehow that makes me happy rofl.

[@avidjackle]

You keep saying mbps... is that megabites or megabytes

[@FrugalRules]

There are two, actually. MBps is megabytes & Mbps is megabits.

[@avidjackle]

@@FrugalRules correct, however new people can get confused when you just say mpbs... when making video state which one.