Learn about the factors impacting Internet speed on your Smart Hub service and ways to optimize performance.
Internet speed explained
Internet speed refers to how quickly information can be transmitted back and forth from the Internet to your computer. Internet speeds are measured in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Download speed is how quickly information is transmitted from the Internet to your computer. When it comes to reading, playing games, viewing videos and listening to streaming music on the web, this is the key number
Upload speed is how quickly you can send information from your computer to the Internet
What can affect your Internet speed
Many factors influence the actual Internet speed you experience at any given time, including:
The speed of the website from which you're downloading information
The number of people trying to download the same information as you from the same website
The number of applications or programmes you are running on your computer
The distance between the TELUS Smart Hub and your device
How old your computer is
Recommended settings for streaming video
Streaming video sites and services allow you to change the quality of the stream. You might think you always want to choose the best/highest quality, but doing so may result in stuttering. You may find that a small decrease to 720P or 480P still looks very similar in your browser but will load much faster. Here are some recommended settings for popular streaming services :
YouTube video quality speed requirements
To view 1080p video, you should have a download speed of 8 Mbps
To view 720p video, you should have a download speed of 5 Mbps
To view 480p video, you should have a download speed of 2.5 Mbps
To view 360p video, you should have a download speed of 1 Mbps
Netflix video quality recommended settings
To view 3-D video, you should have a download speed of 12 Mbps
To view Super HD video, you should have a download speed of 7 Mbps
To view HD video, you should have a download speed of 5 Mbps
To view DVD video, you should have a download speed of 3 Mbps
To view Basic video, you should have a download speed of 1.5 Mbps