Do you need a 500 Mbps download speed for gaming, or is that overkill?
To get straight to the point: if you’re purely playing games online, 500 Mbps usually is overkill. For comparison, even for PS Remote Play, PlayStation lists 5 Mbps as the minimum and 15 Mbps for the best performance. For a smooth online gaming experience, low ping and a stable connection are at least as important as your download speed.
So why do gamers keep talking about those high speeds? Because gaming involves more than just playing. When you’re downloading games, installing updates or sharing your internet connection with others, 500 Mbps (or more) can make a big difference.
When does 500 Mbps make a difference?
The real frustration among gamers isn’t usually the game itself, but all the waiting. In practice, higher speeds make a difference in three areas:
- Download large games and updates faster: a 50 GB download at a constant speed of 100 Mbps theoretically takes around 67 minutes. At 500 Mbps, that drops to around 13 minutes. In practice, download speeds can obviously vary depending on the game server, your connection and other internet activity at home.
- No arguments during digital rush hour: if you’re downloading a huge game on a slower connection, there’s less capacity left for everyone else at home. A higher speed gives everyone more room to download, stream and browse at the same time.
- Live-streaming your gameplay: sharing your gameplay via Discord or Twitch? Then your upload speed is what matters most. After all, you’re continuously sending video to the internet. Exactly how much upload speed you need, depends on things like your stream’s video quality and bitrate.
Which Mobile Vikings subscription suits you as a gamer?
With Mobile Vikings, you can easily match your gaming habits to the right subscription:
For casual gamers
Do you play a game every now and then and don’t mind letting an update run in the background while you do something else? Then Mobile Vikings Unlimited Fast Internet (up to 150 Mbps download) is a solid and affordable choice.
For serious gamers
Do you regularly download large games, want to get updates as quickly as possible, or do several people share your internet connection at home? Then Unlimited Superfast Internet via Fiber gives you all the breathing room everyone needs. If Fiber is available at your address, this subscription gives you up to 1 Gbps download and 500 Mbps upload. That high upload speed also comes in handy if you stream your own gameplay.
Want to go even faster? With Unlimited Megafast Internet (up to 2 Gbps download) and Unlimited Hyperfast Internet (up to 5 Gbps), you get even higher download speeds. Very interesting for gamers who want to download large games and updates as quickly as possible, or households where several heavy internet users are online at the same time.
Conclusion
Just to play games online, you don’t need 500 Mbps. For a smooth gaming experience, low ping and a stable connection matter more. But if you regularly download large games and updates, stream your own gameplay or have several people online at home at the same time, 500 Mbps or more can make a big difference.
Want to know which internet speed is available at your address? Do the Mobile Vikings address check and find out right away if you can get Fiber.