Choosing the Right Internet Plan for Your Smart Home and Devices

In the vast majority of modern homes, the Internet is an essential fact of life. If you don’t have access to the internet, then you might find yourself unable to read the news, contact your friends, or enjoy your favourite television shows.

But internet services come in many different varieties and speeds. Knowing which of these is appropriate for your needs can often be difficult. Let’s consider how we might make this determination.

Assessing Your Smart Home Needs

It might be that your home is a smart home, or that you intend to turn it into one by installing internet-connected thermostats, security cameras, and smart speakers. The more devices you have in the home, and the more bandwidth is being demanded by each of them, the more strain you’ll have on your home network.

Smart televisions, gaming consoles, and PCs tend to be particularly greedy – especially if you have gamers in the house.

If you know exactly what the requirements of your home network are going to be, you can select a home broadband service that will fulfil them, and shop around for broadband deals in an informed way.

Understanding Internet Speeds and Bandwidth

So, what do all of the figures advertised by internet companies really mean? In some cases, they might make a big difference to your experience. In other cases, they might be slightly misleading.

For example, download speeds, rated in megabits per second, are a measure of how much data you can bring in from the internet in a given second. If you have gigabit internet (that’s 1,000Mbps), then you might be able to download a hundred-gigabyte game in a matter of minutes, rather than waiting for an hour or more.

However, if you don’t regularly deal with huge files, then this might be something of a waste. 25Mbps is typically considered acceptable for most users – though busy households with many people working from home might benefit from faster internet.

Leaving aside the download speed, you might also consider your latency – which is the amount of time it takes for data to be sent. If you’re gaming, latency arguably matters more. It’s possible to achieve high figures for overall bandwidth while delivering substandard latency – which is why relying on a single number is often unwise.

Types of Broadband Connections

Homes in the UK can access the internet in many different ways. The fastest connections usually make use of an underground fibre-optic cable. It’s this kind of connection that Virgin Media has popularised in the UK. They offer gigabit speeds, but only to houses in certain areas.

Another option is 5G home broadband, which makes use of the same mobile technology that allows the latest phones to enjoy internet access from across the country. We should also consider ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. This is the older kind of internet that plugs into your phone line. It remains by far the most common method of connecting to the internet.

Evaluating Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Speed alone might provide a basis for comparing different providers. But you’ll also need to think about the package as a whole. What are the terms of the contract? How expensive will it be? How long will you be locked in?

It’s also worth comparing providers on non-quantifiable criteria, like customer satisfaction. Look around the internet for reviews of customers who’ve gone through negative experiences with certain providers. If you’re relying on your internet provider to earn a living, then you’ll want to be sure that the service is rock-solid.

Considering Future-Proofing Your Home Network

It might be that the technological developments of the future will allow you to make greater use of your home network. This might justify investing in hardware that can scale with your use. For example, if you know that you’re going to have four or five people connected to the internet each evening, investing in a decent router might make a difference.