Faster is not always better value. The right speed is the one that keeps everyone in your home happy at the busiest time of the evening, with a little headroom. Here is a simple way to work it out.
Start with what happens at the same time
Speed is shared by everything that is online at once. Think about a normal evening and list what is running together: a TV streaming a match, two phones on social media, a laptop on a video call, a game downloading.
Rough bandwidth each activity needs:
- Browsing, WhatsApp, email: under 2 Mbps
- HD video call: about 3–4 Mbps
- HD streaming (1080p): about 5–8 Mbps
- 4K streaming: about 15–25 Mbps
- Large game or app downloads: as much as you can give them
These figures vary by app, but they are a fair guide.
Add it up, then add headroom
Add up your busiest moment and roughly double it. Wi-Fi inside the home loses some speed through walls and distance, and doubling leaves room for new devices.
Typical homes
- 1–2 people, mostly phones and one TV: a 50–100 Mbps plan is plenty.
- Family of 3–5 with a couple of TVs and work-from-home: 100–200 Mbps is comfortable.
- Large family, 4K TVs, gamers or home office uploads: 200–300 Mbps or more.
- Content creators or very heavy downloaders: consider 500 Mbps or 1 Gbps on fibre.
Upload speed matters too
If you upload videos, back up photos or take long video calls, upload speed matters as much as download. Divyata fibre plans have the same upload and download speed. See Fibre or AirFiber for how the two compare.
When speed is not the problem
If one room is slow but the router room is fast, the plan is not the issue. Wi-Fi coverage is. Move the router to a central, open spot, away from metal cupboards. In larger homes, a mesh system helps more than a faster plan.
Choose and change later
You can start with a sensible plan and upgrade as your needs grow. Compare all speeds on the plans page, or see how we compare with Jio and Airtel.
