re: So I cut the cord on cable and need help.

quote:

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You only need about 5mbps max download for most streams.

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Not true.

First, your advertised internet speed in actually your 'throughput'. Throughput is the maximum speed you could attain in perfect conditions once you get your download going. But really, you need much more than that to have fast, reliable internet.

When you test your internet speed, you'll see your throughput as well as 'ping'. Ping is incredibly important - it's how fast you can send and receive a piece of info to the ISP's server. This is particularly important because this number represents how long it takes to get a download restarted if it's interupted. Well, guess what? Your download, i.e. game stream, can be interrupted several times a minute, or even several times a second. Good internet is going to have a ping under 10. To put it into perspective:

Internet connection 1:
10mbps with ping of 4

Internet connection 2:
100mbps with ping of 160

Internet connection 1 is going to do a much better job of playing your game stream (although I'd prefer a little more than 10mbps to play true 1080p streams confidently).

Additionally, bandwidth is an issue, which is the total number of users a line can support. If your internet comes to your house via coaxial cable, your bandwidth is usually arse. This is why your speed is great at this 2am but sucks at 8pm. Everyone is watching Netflix at 8pm.

Additionally, coaxial cable is significantly affected by static electricity, and so rain affects it tremendously.

I can't really soeak too much on DSL, but I had it in Boston years ago from Verizon and it was arse. Same thing for satellite - no idea what to expect, although weather can be a bastard.

Lastly, there's the issue of the stream itself, which could be hosted anywhere in the world. And it should be obvious that a stream hosted in Atlanta will play better in Alabama than a stream hosted in the Ukraine, assuming all other factors are equal. The info literally has to travel that distance physically. Well, guess what? When talking about streaming games, these streams can be hosted all over the world, and one stream can have very different characteristics than another.

Also, what if you want to watch 2 or 3 games at a tome, or glip between games? 5mbps won't handle that at all.

My strong advice to anyone is: if a company is offering fiber optic internet, meaning a 100% fiber optic line from your modem to their servers, then buy it. It's another level of technology and is simply amazing. You'll receive a higher speed than what you pay for (by a little) and have a near instantaneous ping (under 5), and your speed won't decrease during peak usage hours. It's shockingly fantastic.

And so, in summation, saying '5mbps is enough to play most streams' is just plain wrong, especially if you're talking about HD. I'd really want a minimum of 20mbps and a good ping to feel confident about smoothly streaming a 1080p stream to a large television. A speed of 5mbps will only reliabily play streams that were filmed with a potato. I'm not saying this to argue or get into a pissing contest, but rather to help our fellow consumers.