Welcome to High Speed Internet
As this may be some of our customers' first real experience with super high Internet speeds, we at Sichuun wanted to provide some information that might help get you started.
Why is Internet speed important?
Think of internet speed like water pressure- where your experience could vary greatly based on how you’re using it. Low water pressure may be fine for let’s say brushing your teeth, just like how low internet speeds may be fine for sending a small email that isn’t time sensitive. However, if you’re washing your hair, while you could technically do it with water slowly trickling out of the showerhead, you really want enough pressure to quickly rinse the shampoo out. In the Internet world, you could technically stream a video by watching one or two frames at a time and then waiting for it to buffer for a few minutes to continue watching. But nobody wants that. A faster internet speed can and usually does dramatically improve your overall online experience.
Upload speed vs. download speed
- Download speed is how fast information travels from the internet to your internet-connected device. Streaming videos or music are good examples of activities impacted by your download speed, and if you open a Facebook app on your phone, your download speed would determine how long it takes to load your feed.
- Upload speed is how fast information travels from your internet-connected device to the internet. So if you post to your Facebook timeline, your upload speed would determine how long it takes your post to get to the Facebook server and visible to your friends. Upload speeds are more important for certain applications like online gaming and video chats, where there is more live interaction, or for situations where you’re file sharing large data files (pictures, video, etc.) on cloud based servers (like Drop Box, Google Drive, etc.).
So how much Internet speed do I need?
Generally speaking, up to 5 Mbps may be sufficient for basic web browsing, small email exchanges and even some online music streaming. However, once you start getting a taste for what the Internet can really do, 5 Mbps may start to feel pretty slow. A 50 Mbps service can enable video chats (like Facetime, Facebook Messenger calling, Skype, etc.), playing online video games (single player), streaming video on a single device, etc. And 100 Mbps service is typically best for those households with multiple Internet users, enabling them to do these things at the same time across multiple devices, sharing large files, experiencing video in High Definition (HD) quality, backing up your data, etc.
Should I share my Internet service with others?
Occasionally sharing your Internet service with house guests is of course understandable and expected, but you should never share your Internet service continuously (for example, with neighbors) as it would directly impact your connections and slow down your devices, leading to potential application errors, choppy video / audio streaming and overall a poor user experience.
There are also many other associated risks, including:
- Privacy and security implications, as anything that you are sharing on your network could then be shared with them as well, such as Apple Airplay or other screen-sharing displays, shared folders, printers, IP cameras, etc. Your settings or configurations may also be able to be modified in these situations.
- It opens up all your connected devices to additional risks from malware or viruses from the other users devices, connections, applications, etc.
- It increases your liability- you assume the risks for any illegal usage- downloading illegal material, performing illegal online activities, etc.
Feel free to reach out to a Sichuun Customer Service Representative today for any assistance in selecting the right Internet service for your home, we’d love to help! If you enjoyed this, you might like:
