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Providers often advertise high speeds of 1 Gbit/s, 4 Gbit/s, or even 8 Gbit/s. While this sounds impressive, the reality is that a significant portion of households in Amsterdam do not actually need this capacity. Paying extra each month for a speed you rarely use fully may be unnecessary.
To understand this, we need to look at actual internet usage. Even if you work from home and watch Netflix, you use relatively little 'bandwidth'. A few examples:
If two people in your household are streaming 4K Netflix simultaneously (50 Mbit/s) while someone else is in a Teams meeting (5 Mbit/s), the total usage is under 60 Mbit/s. A 100 Mbit/s connection would handle this easily.
Are you living alone or as a couple? Do you work from home, watch streaming services, and browse the web? An entry-level package of 100 or 200 Mbit/s is almost always more than enough. This can help you save on monthly costs.
Do you have a household of 3 or 4 people who simultaneously use demanding devices (such as game consoles, multiple 4K televisions, or syncing large work files)? In this case, a 400 or 500 Mbit/s connection provides a comfortable buffer so devices do not interfere with each other.
Higher speeds are mainly cost-effective if you transfer very large files as a hobby or for professional purposes. Examples include a videographer uploading gigabytes of 4K video files to a cloud server daily, or an avid gamer wanting to download large files as quickly as possible.
Even with a 1 Gbit/s subscription, you rarely reach that full speed over a standard Wi-Fi connection. Without a modern router and good Wi-Fi access points, a wireless connection often maxes out around 300 to 500 Mbit/s. In this scenario, you are paying for a speed that your wireless devices cannot utilize.
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