Question Ideal Broadband speeds for Netflix

PhillyG76

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Hi, can anyone give a more realistic minimum recommended broadband speed for Netflix? At the moment we only have ADSL broadband between 10-18mbps at best on just watching 1080p clips on YouTube usually means buffering so guessing 4K is out of the question ? But notice on a lot of ads, the recommended minimum speeds seem way too low. I’d guess for 1080p to work reliably, at least 20mbps, but for a more stable service, I’d honestly think 30MBPS. And guess double (or is 4k 4 times the resolution of 1080p?) or four times for ultra hd? Which would mean at least 120mbps? That seems a bit high though, so anyone a 50ish Mbps broadband service able to stream 4K films with few problems? This is way it annoys me when people say “oh you
Don’t need 100meg, you don’t need 1gig etc), if companies can already offer these speeds then sell them. But it seems a Lot hold back and then release this new bigger increase too late but as it seems a Huge leap they charge high prices. I mean Virgin does seem a lot more than sky, talk talk etc. But at least you get regular speed boosts without costing much more. But if there prices were closer to sky etc, they could easily increase the number of customers. In my street, BT have interest in putting fibre so more are getting Virgin, if there prices were lower the older customers would
probably consider packages with TV and mobiles. I just wish they’d be aggressive and lower prices as the increase in customers could be huge and raise money quicker for
network upgrades etc. Sorry In a thoughtful mood lol. Hope I find others who like a good chat lol
 
What Internet Speed Do I Need for Netflix?
The minimum required speed for streaming:
Netflix is 3 Mbps for SD quality.
Netflix recommends at least 5 Mbps for HD quality and 25 Mbps for 4K quality.
 
Really? I’m sure watching 1080p at 20mbps, I’d get some buffering. Although it maybe that the broadband speed drops and isn’t stable. So if I had a more consistent/stable 25-30MBPS I should be ok? I think somehow you’ve made me realise that a more consistent speed is better than a high speed that only holds out for short periods of time
 
Really? I’m sure watching 1080p at 20mbps, I’d get some buffering. Although it maybe that the broadband speed drops and isn’t stable. So if I had a more consistent/stable 25-30MBPS I should be ok? I think somehow you’ve made me realise that a more consistent speed is better than a high speed that only holds out for short periods of time

Consistency is the important thing. I’ve got a Virgin 200Mbps service and it usually peaks at around 220, but I’ve had a bit of buffering on 4K Netflix.

When I tested the speed, it was down to 4Mbps! That hasn’t happened again, but if I use it in peak time when all of the neighbours are home, it’s often down to around 30Mbps - usable but not as fast as I am paying for.
 
I'm rural and only in the last year have fibre to cabinet.
Taking me from 0.8 to a whopping guaranteed minimum of 22.

I can happily watch 1080 without buffering and the whole series of carnival row in 4k with only a few jitters.

So in my experience you can certainly get away with relatively low line speed.

Edit: On testing its normally around the minimum, sometimes up to 30, sometimes down to 15.
 
All the services are adaptive so they should reduce the bitrate and sticking at HD if your line cant sustain 4K. Prime for example, even on a show marked UHD, starts in HD and then switches up to UHD.

With this you shouldnt get buffering unless the speed drops suddenly - usually because there's some other download running in your house - or a ISP prob.

If youre a fair way from the cabinet then FTTC fibre can be down to 20meg which is really the lower limit for 4K streaming, but 30-40 minimum is safer. But if youre choosing a supplier then I would always go better if you can afford to - things will always be more demanding in the future.
 
The ISP is throttling your service, often followed with hints of if you upgrade to the higher price, the problem will go away.
 

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