With an internet speed of 4mbps, you can expect to download files at a speed of about 488.28 KB/sec. At the current state of internet speeds set by the FCC, an internet speed of at least 25 mbps down and 3 mbps up is considered to be high speed broadband.
Using the minimum required speed for high speed broadband internet, having a speed of only 4 mbps internet means that it is relatively slow compared to what is considered to be of high speed. 4mbps is not considered to be a good or fast speed if you are planning on using it in a household for high speed streaming, music, or high quality video.
To put things into perspective, having an internet speed of 4mbps means that you will be able to open emails, play online video games, stream your favorite tv shows on Netflix in standard definition as well as normal internet browsing.
Examples of File Sizes and Download Times Using 4mbps
The following is a small table showing some common file sizes and the time it would take to download these files if your internet speed was 4 mbps.
| Amount of Data | Amount of Time to Download |
| 25mb | 52 seconds |
| 50mb | 1 minute 44 seconds |
| 100mb | 3 minutes 29 seconds |
Is 4 Mbps Slow for Internet?
Having an internet speed of 4 is definitely not the fastest internet speed around, but that doesn’t make to too slow for basic internet usage. Remember that the minimum required download speed for high speed broadband is 25 mbps, so this is about 5 times slower than the standard.
With a speed of 4 mbps you should have no problem with basic internet browsing, opening emails, playing online video games, and watching your favorite tv shows in standard definition.
However, keep in mind that this internet speed will not be good if multiple users will be using this in the same household as it’s just not fast enough to really support more than one user.
Is 4 Mbps Fast Enough for Netflix?
| Netflix Stream | Broadband Internet Speed |
| Standard Definition (SD) | 3mbps |
| High Definition (HD) | 5mbps |
| 4K (Ultra HD) | 25mbps |
Netflix has their own internet speed requirements when it comes to their streaming service. Their minimum speed requirements can be found by clicking here.
The minimum speed required to run their service at this time is 1.5mbps. Also, remember that standard definition requires a minimum of 3 mbps while the high definition requires at least 5.
This means that with a speed of 4 mbps, you will be close to being able to stream at high definition. If you are wanting to watch in ultra high definition Ultra HD or 4K, you may have issues with buffering and longer loading times.
Is 4 Mbps Fast Enough for YouTube?
| Video Quality/Resolution | Recommended Internet Speed |
|---|---|
| 4K | 20 Mbps |
| HD 1080p | 5 Mbps |
| HD 720p | 2.5 Mbps |
| SD 480p | 1.1 Mbps |
According to Youtube, with an internet speed of 4 mbps, you should be able to run a high definitiopn of HD 720p. Also, the lower quality of stream that you you set, the more/better the current stream quality will be able to run.
According to Youtube, with an internet speed of 5 mbps, you should be able to run high definition 1080p. Subsequently, the lower you set the stream quality, the more streams/better the current stream will be able to run.
Is 4 Mbps Fast Enough to Work From Home?
Working from home requires that you have a secure, and stable connection, especially if you want to work effectively. 4 mbps internet is a little slow if you are planning on working from home.
We really recommend at least an internet speed of 5 mbps if you are planning on working from home. With an internet speed of 4 mbps, you should be able to browse the web, open and send emails, use zoom, as well as download moderate sized files in a timely manner.
If your job requires the sending and receiving of very large files (over 100 mbps or more) then your work efficiency may suffer as it will take you a long time to send and receive files with such a slow internet speed.
If downloading and uploading will be most important for your work, then we highly recommend going with a higher internet speed like 25 mbps. This speed is about 5 times faster than 4 mbps and should also give you about a 5 mbps upload minimum to go along with it.
Zoom
Zoom is one of the main reasons to have a fast and reliable internet speed. Zoom is mostly used for internet voice calls as well as video calls/chats. This is a must have application if you are working from home as it’s a great way to keep in touch with your boss as well as coworkers.
In order to meet the minimum requirements set by Zoom themselves, you will need to have at least 3.8 mbps down as well as at least a 3mbps upload. This is essential to stream 1 on 1 video and group calls in 1080p quality.
Having a download speed of 4 mbps is barely meeting this minimum, so you may have a lower quality stream than the 1080p, but nonetheless, you will still be able to use Zoom just fine.
Is 4 Mbps Internet Fast Enough for Gaming?
Online gaming with a speed of only 4 mbps is definitely possible, however it is cutting it close to the minimum requirements. If you will be using only a speed of 4 mbps, then we highly recommend that you are the only user in your household as having more than one user using this internet speed can cause negative effects while gaming with such a low speed.
With a speed of about 4mbps, you should have an average ping of around 50-100ms depending on how stable your internet speed is as well as where the host is on the game or server you are playing on. The area that you will suffer the most is when downloading video games or patches.
With today’s games being very large in size (10 GB + or more), it can take a good while to download the entire file while only downloading at a speed of about 488.28 KB/sec.
If Wifi is your primary connection point, then we recommend using a high speed gaming router to help keep your as low as possible. Click here to check out the wide selection of Netgear Wifi Gaming Routers on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
A download speed of 4 mbps translates to about 488.28 KB/sec. This is currently not considered to be high speed broadband as the minimum speed set by the FCC is 25 mbps down and 3 mbps up. Having a speed of 4 mbps is considered to be slow in today’s era.
However this doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to successfully open emails, browse the internet, use youtube/netflix, working from home, or gaming. You will be able to do all of these to an extent. One being that you are the only user in your home that is using your internet.
We highly recommend going wiht a higher speed like 25 mbps as most of these issues will be eliminated.