Do I Really Need 1Gbps Internet?

It is all based on your household use. If you are a single person living by yourself and not a huge internet user, then 1Gbps is a waste. But, if you live in a house with multiple users all streaming content, playing online games, IoT wired house, have friends streaming from your Plex server, everyone cell phone attached downloading god knows what in the background and still want to be able to download the 70GB game from steam when it comes out ASAP. Then yes 1Gbps is justified.

I currently have two roommates, with no TV services so everything is Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and other streaming services. Total of 4 cell phones, XB1, PS4, 7 Computers, various IoT household devices, and Plex Server dishing out content to friends. At the 100Mbps/10Mbps internet I have now. It has been maxed out several times and it got to the point last week that we decided to pony up more p/m for the 200/20 connection.

While 1Gbps is surely not a need to survive in this world, it is however a need to live the way I want to and enjoy all my toys that I spent all my hard earned money on.

Google...... Please, oh please hurry up and install fiber in SoCal / LA soon and stop teasing us.
 
I've never once utilized the full 1Gbps of Gigapower outside of running speed tests. This is with torrents, 2 kids watching netflix, wife on FB, and me doing stuff too.

You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands though. I'm sure if I really tried I could max it out but the rest of the web just isn't up to snuff to NEED 1Gbps for 99.5% of the people who have it.

Need? Absolutely not. Keeping anyways? Absolutely.
 
The thing that is annoying is the way they do the Mbps vs MBps when advertising and the price they charge for it. If you are not careful you end up thinking it's more than it is. So if you get a package that says 20 mbps you are only getting around 2.5-3.0 MBps. So evil. The redeeming feature would be the unlimited data cap. Yes if I can get 1 gbps for a lower price than now I would go for it. The other thing is that google is a privacy violator for ad revenue.
 
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Doesn't AT&T have data caps! What good is that bandwidth when they charge you for data usage after you hit cap.

Yes, there's a cap, but I'm not using that much, and they have a $30/month option to ignore the caps. The most I use is downloading windows 10 through the 'upgrade assistant' like 20 times to upgrade three computers, cause the install kept crapping out, and they didn't keep the download on disk somewhere. I'm really happiest that my upload isn't terrible, and my pings are nice.
 
There's also 'burst' use. Moving from 7 to 10 might require updates/patches, etc. Moving Steam might require downloading games. That's where I'm having an issue. Normal, day to day is fine. Trying to get something down over 6GB is difficult. :punch:

At least I can say it's cheap. But, if available, I'd sign on the dotted line for GB service instantly.
 
Everyone should have Gig.. Even grandma. Seriously. Even if you're only bursting to full bandwidth per click, that's still valuable time that we shouldn't all be sitting around for buffering/downloading/uploading.
 
Gotta love the plebian non-technical consumption-centered article writers who sit and say ya don't need this or ya don't need that...but have no clue about technology or its rate of increase.

If we all went by this person's reasoning, we'd still be at 14.4 baud rate.
 
As stated, need it? No. Want it? Sure. If literally everyone had the same class of speed for Internet service it would really make everything work much better overall.
 
Downloading games off Steam will peg 1Gbps all day.
Yes downloading a 50gig game off steam is amazing. It is the only service that comes close to the making the gigabit internet sweat. Otherwise everything else seems to hover around 120mb (15Mb).

Good stuff though!
 
I want it for the sole reason of forcing the other companies to actually innovate and compete. All the other ISP's stagnate and prices only increase to ridiculous levels. I don't give a damn if I can't saturate the connection.
 
My current internet has been good to me for years. I currently average 200/30 with my Comcast service and have had no issues. I looked at their 2gbps service that was offered in my area but, like someone else said, $300 a month is pretty steep. I would love the higher upload but downstream 200 has been plenty. Even most Steam games download in 5 minutes or so, only the largest of AAA titles take 20-30 minutes. I suppose if I lived in a household where there were other users I'd need to spring for something faster.
 
Very rarely would I *need* that kind of bandwidth. I'm happy with my 60/10 for $50 (currently $30 promo) but I'd gladly take half as much bandwidth for half the price.
 
I so far have really not needed more than 30mb down, up on the other hand I could use more of. I would gladly take a 20/20 connection over a 90/5
 
Is a 1Gbps internet connection worth it? You guys who are lucky enough to have that level of service can tell me. While websites and services aren’t set up to utilize those speeds, I would love to try out a 1Gbps upload.

I simply opted for the 1Gbps package to see what it would be like to have that speed in my own home. I’ve only had the service less than a week, but I’ve honestly struggled to witness the differences between nearly 100Mbps speeds and the impressive 1Gbps connection. Streaming 4K content seems just as reliable as before, and web pages for the most part aren’t noticeably faster. The big difference is the huge 1Gbps upload. I can send large files to OneDrive or Dropbox in what seems instant, and even sending files to friends and family is a lot quicker. When I switched from 56K to ADSL, or from ADSL to a fiber connection, there was a powerful and noticeable bump in speed. I honestly haven’t felt that yet with this connection.
Of course you need 1gbps to continue pirating..................................
Megalith

22.544 9.6 TB 434.1 GB
 
When games are no longer sold on discs and everything is a Steam install... then yes, yes I do need speed, as much as I can afford thank you very much.

I remember having a dial up modem and it taking an hour to download a 600k picture.... never, ever again.
 
I feel like it's more about multiple simultaneous connections than it is about getting a single 1gbps download.


If you are into torrents, it's probably pretty awesome for that.


I have a 150/150mbps connection, and I have to admit that I only rarely take full advantage of it.

It's really more of an "overkill just to make sure my steam download isn't hurting the wife's Netflix streaming" kind of thing.
 
I'm ok with the 200/40 Unlimited I have right now at $75, higher upload would be nice but rarely used. To bump it up to their new 1000/100 plan is $150. Thought about it but can't justify the cost.
 
Need? Probably not. But when Google Fiber is planning to offer 1/1GBps service in my area for less than what I pay Comcast for 75/10Mbps, I say "Sure why not". Also the lack of a cap is nice.
 
Need? Probably not. But when Google Fiber is planning to offer 1/1GBps service in my area for less than what I pay Comcast for 75/10Mbps, I say "Sure why not". Also the lack of a cap is nice.

Yeah, It's all about just getting it, and no longer having to worry about things clogging up the tubes and fiddling with QoS settings, etc. etc. and just doing whatever you want whenever you want and not even thinking about bandwidth, even as a power user.
 
I had no idea that Gigabit would be this awesome. Before I switched Comcast was bitching at me every month for going over 300GB. Now I don't even have to worry about it. The only thing I "need" the speed for is Steam and thankfully it can pretty much saturate the line.
 
I had no idea that Gigabit would be this awesome. Before I switched Comcast was bitching at me every month for going over 300GB. Now I don't even have to worry about it. The only thing I "need" the speed for is Steam and thankfully it can pretty much saturate the line.

That is pretty cool.

I had assumed that it would get nowhere near saturation. I thought my 18.5MB/s from steam was pretty good :p
 
I don't see it. AT&T is currently installing fiber in my area. Right now, I have 90 Mbps Comcast.

There is no point in faster speeds when Netflix and YouTube get throttled to hell in the evening.

But I might switch to AT&T fiber just to see if they have better peering than Comcast here in South Florida.

Although, I detest service contracts and AT&T's $30/month anti-spying fee.
 
In a vacuum, and if we're looking solely just at the speeds without context, then yeah, 1gbps is probably overkill right now. I think other people are more focused on say, the competitive aspect of it ie having someone like Google price their 1gbps service at a very affordable cost of around $70-80. This would definitely make the other providers take notice and lower their pricing too. As of right now, I pay Comcast $80 after tax for 75/15. To get their highest 300mbps tier available to me in my area, I'd need to shell out $200. They also have an absurd 2gbps option, which costs $300 before taxes and fees.

Also, I don't know if Google does this, but Comcast is also notorious for throttling speeds at random times during the day. 75mbps isn't too bad for me, but there's no point to it, especially at late hours, when the speed just slows to a crawl. Its complete bullshit, and I want to just throw something at my TV when I'm trying to watch Netflix.
 
I love my Internet too......
Screenshot_20160719-202613.png


My LTE is about the same

Screenshot_20160719-202709.png
 
No. I have 340 Mbps and always over 20 upload. Probably more connection than 95% here as far as PC's running or TV's streaming. Its only good for downloading ...say steam games fast . Its only as fast as it is being uploaded to you. Mine is fine.
 
What's sad is that AT&T offers 1gbps/1gbps for $70 in all the areas around here that offer Google Fiber. But if you drive 20 feet outside Google Fiber heaven, AT&T charges you $60 for 30 mbps. Such a horrible company.
 
I have a 1000/100 connection. It's unbelievably awesome for torrenting... all those Linux distros... yeah.
 
I pay $30 a month (equivalent US) for 100M down, 20M up. And I chose the more expensive one (the guys who actually owns the lines, I believe it's because other ISPs rent the land lines from them that they have to charge more to consumers, so the rentals have a competitive edge, my local ISP for example, offers 70M down for $12 a month.

I certainly won't mind a 1Gbps connection, at least that way my router would be put to the test :D
 
I pay $30 a month (equivalent US) for 100M down, 20M up. And I chose the more expensive one (the guys who actually owns the lines, I believe it's because other ISPs rent the land lines from them that they have to charge more to consumers, so the rentals have a competitive edge, my local ISP for example, offers 70M down for $12 a month.

I certainly won't mind a 1Gbps connection, at least that way my router would be put to the test :D

Consider yourself lucky. Cox charges $33/month for their 5 Mbps service. And just trying to find the quotes on their services is incredibly difficult. It's like these companies try to keep information as opaque to the customer as possible.
 
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I can get Beanfield or Bell fiber at the same price.

Funny what a little competition does. I'm out of this place soon anyways, but I'm not happy with the exclusivity deal they have with Telus at all.

$100 for 100Mbps when every condo around mine is paying half that is ridiculous.
 
No, no it is not. Not when you are backing up large amounts of data to an online backup provider.

I should amend for the "average" person who doesn't need that? yes. it's fine. If you are constantly uploading/downloading huge files? then No. 1gbps connection is exactly what you want and need.
 
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