Your plan speed works like a water pipe. With one tap open, that tap gets the whole pipe. With five taps open at once, the pipe is shared among all five. Internet works the same way with every phone, TV and computer that is online.
Roughly how much each activity uses
- Social media and messaging. Less than 5 Mega per phone
- HD video call. About 4 Mega per person on the call
- Full HD movie. About 5 to 8 Mega per screen
- 4K movie. 15 to 25 Mega per screen
- Online gaming. Uses little. The heavy part is downloading the game, which takes all the speed available
- Security camera. 2 to 4 Mega per camera sending video to the cloud
Do the math for your busiest hour
Think of the time when the most people use the internet at home, usually in the evening. Add up what each person does at that time and double the result. The extra margin is there because Wi-Fi loses speed through walls and over distance, and because phones also download updates without warning.
A quick way to choose
- One or two people, with phones, streaming and video calls. Flash 300 handles it, where it is available
- Working from home with the living room TV on. Speed 600, for R$ 120 a month
- The whole family streaming, each on their own screen. Soma 800, for R$ 179 a month
- A home full of devices, gaming, online classes and cameras. Soma 900, for R$ 189 a month
- Online gaming and big files. Ultra 1 Giga, for R$ 199 a month
When a bigger plan does not help
If the internet freezes in one room and works fine near the router, the problem is the Wi-Fi, and changing plans will not fix it. In that case, read where to put your router before upgrading your speed.
