Most households need much less speed than the top plan on a provider's page, and you can work out your number in about five minutes. Add up what is actually running at your busiest hour, leave some headroom, and pick the tier that covers it. Paying for a bigger number "just in case" is one of the easiest ways to overspend on internet.
How much speed does each thing use?
Streaming, calls and music use far less than the marketing makes it sound. Here are the figures from two sources you can open yourself:
- HD video (1080p): Netflix recommends 5 Mbps or higher. 4K needs 15 Mbps or higher, and 720p needs 3 Mbps (Netflix Help Center).
- A video call: about 5 Mbps, according to oxio's help centre.
- Streaming music: under 1 Mbps.
- Online games: oxio's help centre puts most under 5 Mbps. What matters for games is a stable connection, not a huge plan.
oxio's own help article adds the point that people forget: even if you stream HD, sit on a video call and play music at the same time, you only use up to about 16 Mbps (oxio Help Centre: higher internet speeds).
A worked example: four people at 8 p.m.
Say it's a Tuesday evening in a four-person household. Here is the worst case, with everything running at once, using the highest figure from the list above:
- One person watches a 4K show: 15 Mbps.
- Another watches a 1080p show in the bedroom: 5 Mbps.
- A third is on a video call for school or work: 5 Mbps.
- A fourth is gaming online: 5 Mbps.
- Music streams in the kitchen: 1 Mbps.
That adds up to 31 Mbps. Double it for headroom (updates in the background, a phone on the Wi-Fi, a doorbell camera) and you land near 60 to 65 Mbps. In oxio's own tier guide, that sits in the 50 to 75 Mbps bracket, which they describe as comfortable for five to nine devices and HD streaming on a device or two (oxio Help Centre: what internet speed do I need?). The same guide moves a work-from-home, 4K, gaming household up to the 100 to 200 Mbps bracket, so if two people work from home on calls all day, step up one tier.
The point isn't that every house should buy 75 Mbps. The point is that you can do this sum yourself in a few minutes, and the answer is almost never the 1 Gbps plan.
Your five-minute speed check
- Count the people who are online at the same time on a busy evening, not the people who live there.
- List what each one is doing and write down the figure from the list above. Use the 4K figure only for screens that are actually 4K.
- Add them up. Then double the total for headroom.
- Count your devices. oxio's guide groups plans by device count too: 15 to 30 Mbps for 3 to 4 devices, 100 to 200 Mbps for 10 to 13. Smart bulbs and plugs count, even though they use almost nothing.
- Pick the tier above your doubled total, not the one with the most impressive number.
- Test it with a cable. Plug a laptop into the router with an Ethernet cable and run a speed test, so Wi-Fi isn't part of the result.
When a faster plan really helps
A bigger plan earns its price in a few cases:
- Big downloads. Game installs, backups and software updates finish sooner.
- Many people doing heavy things at once. Large families or several roommates with 4K, gaming and uploads all at once.
- Uploading large files. oxio's help centre has a clean example: uploading a 10 GB video at 10 Mbps takes about two and a half hours. If you edit video or stream as a creator, check the upload speed on the plan, not just the download number.
For everyday video calls you don't need to worry about upload. oxio's help centre says most plans have enough for that.
The catch above 500 Mbps: Wi-Fi is the bottleneck
Here is the part a lot of providers skip. oxio's help centre says its routers deliver Wi-Fi speeds of roughly 400 to 500 Mbps, which is plenty for most homes, but that a wired device can reach up to 1 Gbps. Wi-Fi is also affected by walls, the layout of your home and other electronics.
So if you buy a plan above 500 Mbps and only ever use Wi-Fi, you may never see the extra. If you do want it, plug the devices that matter (a desktop, a console, a TV) into the router with a cable. oxio's guide recommends an Ethernet switch if you need more ports, connected in this order: modem, router, switch.
Can you change your mind later?
That is the reason not to overbuy. With oxio, you can change your speed as often as you like at no charge. The help centre warns that your old plan may no longer be available once you change, so check before you move up and back down. There is no term contract either, so you aren't locked into a guess.
I have been an oxio customer since 2020, and the rule I follow is the one above: size the plan for the busy evening, not the best-case marketing number, then adjust if real life disagrees.
Where oxio fits
When you compare providers, put the speeds next to what each one charges for equipment and what the price becomes after any promo. A fast plan with a rental fee and a price that jumps in month 13 is more expensive than it looks. oxio includes the modem and router, charges $0 for activation, installation and shipping (oxio Help Centre: fees), and keeps the price fixed.
If you pick a plan with the sum above and want to try it, enter at signup for a free first month.