How Fast Is 200 Mbps in 2023? [Complete Insights]
While 200 Mbps is certainly fast, it’s not quite as fast as 400 Mbps. Still, it’s a great deal for a small business or home with eight to ten people.
It is adequate for playing games, watching videos, and working from home, and can handle most routine tasks with ease.
Video and audio calls, large file transfers, streaming Netflix in high definition, and uploading and downloading videos from YouTube are all possible at this speed.
This speed far exceeds what is considered “normal” in the United States. Is 200 Mbps sufficient for everything, though?
How fast can you actually upload and download? Should I pay to have access to these features? I put CenturyLink’s 200 Mbps plan to the test for three weeks to find out the answers to all such questions:
Is 200 Mbps a Fast Speed?
Around 7–12, devices can use a shared connection of 200 Mbps to transfer massive amounts of data, such as streaming videos or downloading large files. Check out the data in the table below to get a feel for the strategy.
| Online Activities | Minimum Required Upload Rate | Upload Rate Prerequisites | Does it work with 200 Mbps? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Media (Facebook/Twitter /Instagram/Tiktok) |
500 – 2000 Kbps | 200 – 300 Kbps | Yes |
| Messaging & Email | 100 Kbps | 12.5 Kbps | Yes |
| Web Browsing | 100 – 1000 Kbps | 12.5 – 125 Kbps | Yes |
| Google Meet Voice Call |
100 Kbps | 12.5 Kbps | Yes |
| Google Meet Video Call |
2-3 Mbps | 250-300 Kbps | Yes |
| Skype HD Call | 1-3 Mbps | 125 – 300 Kbps | Yes |
| Skype Group HD Call | 4-5 Mbps | 500 – 600 Kbps | Yes |
| Zoom HD Call | 3.5-4 Mbps | 400 – 500 Kbps | Yes |
| Zoom Group HD Call | 4-5 Mbps | 500 – 600 Kbps | Yes |
| Watching YouTube Videos [480p] | 500 – 1000 Kbps | 200 Kbps | Yes |
| Watching YouTube Videos [1080p] | 2-3 Mbps | 250 – 300 Kbps | Yes |
| Streaming Netflix [720p] | 1.5-2 Mbps | 250 Kbps | Yes |
| Streaming Netflix [1080p] | 5-7 Mbps | 600-800 Kbps | Yes |
| Online Gaming | 3-4 Mbps | 300 – 400 Kbps | Yes |
| Streaming Audio Music | 400 Kbps | 50 Kbps | Yes |
Can You Play Games at 200 Mbps?
Download speeds of up to 5 Mbps are recommended for typical online gaming. And upload speeds of 1.5-5 Mbps.
Therefore, up to 30 devices can use the 200 Mbps WiFi connection at once. With an expected upload speed of 20-100 Mbps, however, this plan limits you to no more than four games at once.
And a gaming-optimized modem is recommended for better performance and lower ping times. Video game updates and download speeds benefit greatly from an internet connection of 200 Mbps.
It could take some time for high-end games to download on a connection of 200 Mbps. The PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, for instance, weighs in at a massive 250 GB.
The download time for this game is about 3.5 hours. In that case, patience is a virtue. Low- and mid-tier games, on the other hand, take mere seconds to download. The download time for Call of Duty: Mobile is 2.5 minutes or less, and the size is 2.00 GB.
Can Streaming Be Done at 200 Mbps?
The amount of data used while streaming is proportional to the video quality. For instance, a speed of 25-50 Mbps is required for streaming 4K videos.
Therefore, up to 8-16 4K, videos can be streamed simultaneously at a speed of 200 Mbps. Is 200 Mbps sufficient for Netflix streaming? To stream Netflix HD videos or Amazon Prime videos, you’ll need a connection speed of 7-10 Mbps.
This means that between 28 and 40 devices can connect to the 200 Mbps WiFi at the same time. This rate is suitable for households and even small businesses. Download speeds of 0.5 to 1 Mbps are needed for standard YouTube videos.
If you do the maths, you’ll find that more than 300 videos can be played at once. For high-definition (HD) video, this number drops to 80–100 devices, which is still plenty fast for most homes.
Spotify and Apple Music, two of the most popular audio streaming services, require between 0.4 and 0.6 Mbps download speed.
You can listen to more than 300 songs in parallel with this plan. I recommend getting streaming-capable routers for the best possible experience.
Can I Get Work Done at Home with 200 Mbps?
When I’m working from home, I typically use three or more devices to surf the web, watch videos (for research), have team calls via Meet or Teams, etc. For Microsoft Teams calls, a minimum of 3 Mbps download and 3.8 Mbps upload speed is required.
With 200 Mbps, you can theoretically hold 60 calls on Microsoft Teams. However, the plan’s upload speeds range from 20 to 100 Mbps. So, in practice, you can have anywhere from 5-20 Microsoft Teams HD calls at once.
The same amount of bandwidth is required for Google Meet calls. This plan allows for roughly 40-50 Google Meet calls. In a similar vein, you can make between 100 and 150 voice calls and 7 and 25 video calls per week on WhatsApp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 200 Mbps suitable for working from home?
The speed of 200 Mbps is perfect for home office use. The bandwidth supports high-quality voice and video over the internet, as well as rapid email attachment downloads and effortless social media browsing.
How many devices can a 200 Mbps connection support?
The answer is contextual. Almost eight devices can watch 4K content at once, and a hundred or more can use social media at the same time.
200 Mbps vs 400 Mbps: Which is better?
Most households only need between 100 and 200 Mbps for basic online activities like streaming videos, making video calls, browsing the web, etc. But if you do a lot of online gaming, you’ll want at least 400 Mbps. It’s important to think about how many people and devices will be using the service before settling on a plan.
100 Mbps vs 200 Mbps: What’s the difference?
One or two people can effectively share a 100 Mbps connection. However, if you need to support more people (around seven or eight), a speed of 200 Mbps will do the trick. With such a fast connection, you’ll have no trouble completing even the most time-consuming online tasks.
Wrap Up
With a download speed of 200 Mbps, you can get through even the most time-consuming tasks relatively quickly.
Uploading videos to YouTube, playing intensive online games, dealing with clients via continuous video calls, etc., on multiple devices may necessitate higher internet speeds of higher than 200 Mbps Speed.
Counting how many gadgets and people are on the plan is a must. If you don’t understand this, then you shouldn’t subscribe to any plan.
Further Read:
