Is gigabit internet worth it? Only if you meet these 3 criteria

You'll probably be fine with much slower speeds.

- JARED NEWMAN

If you ever need a textbook example of misleading marketing, just look at what some internet providers are saying about gigabit internet service.

Cable companies would have you believe that speeds upward of 1 Gbps are essential for modern internet use. A gigabit connection "lets you multitask," Cox's website proclaims (fave.co/3v49Eql), suggesting that it's important for "scrolling through your Instagram feed on your phone while simultaneously streaming Netflix and surfing Amazon Prime on your laptop." Likewise, Comcast says to consider gigabit speeds (fave.co/3jj ToPu) if "your family loves to stream movies and TV while playing bandwidth-hungry games and downloading the latest apps on your smartphone."

For the sake of keeping this article family-friendly, the term I will use for these claims is “exaggeration.” Gigabit speeds are overkill for the vast majority of internet users, but with more people ditching cable TV and girding their homes for remote work, internet providers have found a golden opportunity to push unnecessary upgrades with fatter profit margins. So it’s no surprise that they’re capitalizing on gigabit internet confusion.

WHY GIGABIT INTERNET MAY BE OVERKILL

Consider the facts:

• Netflix recommends download speeds of 25 Mbps for 4K HDR video. That means you’d need 40 simultaneous streams—10 times more than what Netflix’s 4K plan even allows—to make full use of a gigabit connection.

• Zoom Video recommends speeds of 3.8 Mbps for videoconferencing at 1080p. Bandwidth would only become a problem if you had more than 263 video calls going at the same time.