What internet speed to I need for streaming?

At St. Thomas the Apostle, we are doing our best to provide the most up-to-date streaming technology, which is rapidly evolving. We have a strong team of tech experts monitoring this site’s performance and are doing everything we can to provide the best user experience, however there are many factors beyond our control. The following may help if you are experiencing any problems.

You need a minimum download speed of 3 Megabits per second to watch a single video stream in clear, standard definition. The best Internet speed for HD streaming is 5Mbps, and if you go all the way up to 4K streaming, or ultra HD, your bandwidth should start at 25Mbps.

High-definition (HD) 1080p video (which is what we broadcast) has more pixels— and therefore more data— compared with, say, a video with 480p video.

Poor video quality may also be caused by

• Slow internet speeds (due to high volume traffic at certain times of the day)
• Slower connections from your internet service provider, due to your plan
• Faulty or old routers
• Crowded networks
• Older browsers
• Bad cabling
• PCs that don’t have a lot of horsepower
• Multiple users on a network
• Having too many apps open at once on a computer

To determine your current bandwidth

Check out this free speed test. The results provided will give you a rough estimate of your upload and download speeds provided by your internet service provider (ISP).

Run this test in various conditions. The number of people tapped into a network impacts upload speeds and can cause fluctuation.

Available bandwidth on your PC and mobile fluctuates all the time, which is why your internet seems slower on some days and faster on others.

If you’re having video quality problems, we recommend first checking with your internet service provider to determine potential causes.