What Is the Xumo Stream Box?
The Xumo Stream Box is a new, easier way to stream both live TV and On Demand content. Get one included with Spectrum TV plans right now.
How Fast Is Spectrum Internet®?
Internet speeds can be confusing. How do you know how much speed your household needs? With different Spectrum Internet plans to choose from, let’s go over each plan and discuss what you can do with each one.
Table of Contents
- Spectrum Internet Tiers
- How Fast Is Spectrum Internet?
- What Can You Do With Spectrum Speeds?
- How to Decide on a Spectrum Plan
- Which Spectrum Plan Is Best?
- Choose a Spectrum Internet Plan
- FAQ
Summary
Spectrum offers two tiers of internet service: Spectrum Internet Premier, and Spectrum Internet Gig, with speeds up to 500, and 1000 Mbps, respectively. Each plan should appeal to different households, as some homes need faster internet than others.
Update: Spectrum has begun rolling out symmetrical speed internet plans in limited markets across the country thanks to upgrades made on technology and infrastructure. To learn more about these plans, visit here. To check if symmetrical speeds are available at your address, call the phone number on this page.
Spectrum Internet Tiers
Spectrum Internet’s tiers are Spectrum Internet Premier, and Spectrum Internet Gig.
To understand these tiers of service, first their names and terminology must be defined and explained. Spectrum Internet Premier advertises speeds up to 500 Mbps, the bandwidth a customer should be receiving when ordering this plan.
Bandwidth is a measurement of maximum data transfer in a path. So it is essentially a fancy way of saying how fast your internet will be. The higher the bandwidth, the more data should be able to transfer through your internet’s infrastructure, leading to faster speeds.
Spectrum Internet Gig is the most expensive Spectrum Internet plan with the greatest bandwidth. 1 Gig refers to 1000 Mbps, or 1 gigabyte of information transferred each second.
How Fast Is Spectrum Internet?
Spectrum is a cable company, meaning its service (both TV and internet) is delivered via an extensive cable infrastructure. Cable is so extensive because it needs to be shared by many different customers in the same area, which is why most people in a neighborhood have the same TV or internet provider.
This also affects everyone’s speeds because the cable lines are always being shared.
In times of high traffic, such as when people get home from work and want to watch TV or browse the internet, internet speeds will slow down.
In low-traffic hours, such as overnight, speeds will be much closer to their advertised figures.
Advertised Speeds
This means that, for example, Spectrum Internet Ultra, which has advertised speeds up to 500 Mbps, a customer’s speeds during peak usage hours may be only half or one-third of that number.
The same rule applies for Spectrum Internet Gig as well. An advertised speed of up to 940 Mbps may actually only be 300 or 400 Mbps, or lower, during times when people actually want to use the internet.
This problem is only compounded further when multiple users in the same household want to use devices simultaneously. For example, if one person is watching TV while another browses online and another is playing an online video game, the household’s speeds can slow down.
This can lead to lag and other issues if the internet plan in use does not provide enough bandwidth.
When you use wired connections for your stationary devices, like a gaming console or PC, speeds are typically faster.
And this is very important to remember: advertised speeds usually only refer to a provider’s wired connection to the router. In other words, a customer might be paying for speeds up to 500 Mbps, but on their smartphone the connection may not ever reach this speed.
Wireless speeds are usually much slower than direct wired connections and depend heavily on where your WiFi modem is located in your home. The farther away the modem is from your device, the weaker the signal will be, meaning slower speeds.
What Can You Do with Spectrum Internet Speeds?
There may be confusion surrounding exactly how fast an internet speed a customer needs.
This table will show what tasks can be accomplished with what plans/speeds, taking considerations such as server lag, advertising discrepancies and other performance issues into account.
| Feature | Spectrum Internet Premier | Spectrum Internet Gig |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price ($/mo. for 12 mos) | $50.00 | $70.00 |
| Speeds (up to) | 500 Mbps | 1000 Mbps |
| Tasks | Streaming TV, gaming, browsing online | Streaming, hardcore gaming, work from home |
| Heavy Traffic Effects | Lagging when multiple devices in use during peak hours | No significant slowdowns |
| Best For | Multiple users with multiple devices | Super-connected homes with many devices |
How to Decide Which Spectrum Internet Plan to Choose
Your choice of internet plan should ultimately be determined by what you want out of your internet.
Don’t just buy Spectrum Internet Premier because it is the least expensive, or Internet Gig because you think it must be the best quality service because it is the fastest and most expensive.
Instead, determine what you will use the internet for and think about the size of your household.
How Fast Is Spectrum Internet?
If you have a small household with only a few devices, Spectrum Internet should provide more than enough speed for you.
At or near true 500 Mbps is a faster speed than most households or families require.
However, during peak traffic times, you might experience slowed performance as a result of other consumers in your area sharing the same cable infrastructure. This is completely normal and can be mitigated by prioritizing wired connections in your home, when possible. Wired connections provide the most reliable, fastest speeds.
How Fast Is Spectrum Internet Gig?
Spectrum Internet Gig is perfect for super-connected homes. This means families that use many connected devices simultaneously and also do things like working or learning from home. With Gig speeds, slowdowns should rarely present an issue.
Which Spectrum Internet Plan Is Best?
In order to work from home, be a hardcore gamer and stream from your favorite app all at the same time, a great deal of bandwidth is required.
Spectrum Internet Premier should provide ample speed for streaming, gaming, and accomplishing many other online tasks.
If you want to take your speed to the next level, Spectrum Internet Gig gives you high speeds for a high price.
No matter how big or small your household is, you should find value in Spectrum Internet.
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Choose a Spectrum Internet Plan
If your family needs help with choosing a Spectrum Internet plan, or if you want to check out the best prices and promotions available at your address, give the phone number on this page a call, or use the free offer finder tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Spectrum Internet plan?
Spectrum's cheapest internet plan is its Spectrum Internet plan which starts at $50.00/mo.
What is the best Spectrum Internet plan?
Spectrum's fastest internet service is its Spectrum Internet Gig which provides up to 1000 Mbps speeds starting at $70.00/mo.
Is Spectrum cable or DSL?
Spectrum provides cable TV and cable internet.
How fast is Spectrum Internet?
Currently, Spectrum Internet provides top download speeds of around 1000 Mbps. However, limited markets can actually get speeds faster than that. To find availability at your address, call the phone number on this page.
Is Spectrum high-speed internet cable?
Yes, Spectrum's high-speed internet is cable.
Is Spectrum Internet fiber?
Spectrum is beginning to roll out fiber internet availability in very limited markets. To find out what's available at your address, call the phone number on this page.
Is Spectrum available near me?
Use National Broadband's availability checker or call the phone number on this page to see if Spectrum is available in your area.
