Using the information highway today is very much like driving on a regular highway- most people are saying--give me the maximum allowable speed. We have places to go, people to see, and we don't want to waste time getting there. The higher your speed, the more things you can do online, faster.

512k? 1.5Mb? 6Mb? 20Mb? What do the numbers mean?
Internet transfer speeds are measured in kilobits per second and megabits per second, although those are not the same as the kilobytes and megabytes we use when we're talking about hard disks and files. However, 1 megabit = 1024 kilobits, so simple math dictates that a 1.5 Mb connection will be about 3 times as fast as a 512 kb connection, and a 512k broadband Internet connection is around ten times faster than a 56k dial-up Internet connection.

When it comes to DSL speeds, loading simple web pages or emails with text only can be accomplished on any speed, but the internet is now so much more than text-- think about music, video, animations, games and all the other stuff that makes the Internet so much fun. You will notice a huge difference in speed if you are downloading large files like pictures, music or video, where downloading a file on 3 Mb might take 1 minute, but 10 minutes on a 512k connection.

But don't worry about understanding all the numbers. What matters is how they apply to the kinds of things you'll do on the Internet. Do you like to watch your favorite TV shows online? Download music, video conference with your family, play games, or do your shopping online? If you watch a lot of video, we suggest at least 6Mb to ensure a consistent, enjoyable streaming experience. 12Mb will allow you to download HD-quality video, or watch 2 video streams comfortably at the same time.

If you spend a lot of time online, you know more speed is better.

Here's a table for a simple comparison: