If you ’ re using a broadband internet connection with download speeds of 50Mbps, you can comfortably stream ultra-HD quality video recording on up to 2 devices at the same time. alternatively, you can download an stallion music album in around 14 seconds or a HD-quality movie in about 11 minutes ( increasing to 53 minutes if you ’ re downloading a movie in 4K ultra-HD quality ) .The most wide available 50Mbps plans are from BT and Sky. You can besides get Virgin Media ‘s M50 broadband ( with average speeds of 54Mbps ) in around half of all UK homes. In this article, we ’ ll look at what you can do on a 50Mbps connection, including for on-line video, music, gambling, video calls and general web browse. We ’ ll besides look at download times on a 50Mbps connection and at how much you ’ ll typically need to pay for 50Mbps broadband at different ISPs.
Table of Contents
How Fast Is 50Mbps ?
A download accelerate of 50Mbps is a little slower than the UK ’ randomness average home broadband service ( 63Mbps ). Although it ‘s a small moment slower than average, you ‘ll placid be able to do most of the things you ‘d want to do online. For case, there would n’t be any problems with daily use such as web browse, television calling, watching video on-line or playing multiplayer games. In some cases, things may start slowing down if you ‘re using multiple devices at the same clock ( e.g. you would n’t be able to stream ultra-HD video on multiple devices at the like clock time ) .
Streaming & other Activities
If you ’ re using a 50Mbps broadband connection, it will support most things you ’ d like to do online. This includes browsing the network, making video calls, listening to music and watching video on-line. In the keep up table, we ’ ve listed a issue of on-line activities and the minimum travel rapidly required for each one. We ’ ve besides listed the numeral of devices you ’ vitamin d be able to use at the like time when accessing these services through a 50Mbps connection. For exemplify, watching on-line video recording in ultra-HD ( 4K ) choice would require a download speed of 25Mbps on each device. You can therefore watch on up to 2 devices at the lapp clock time if you have a 50Mbps connection .
| Activity | Required Download Speed | Usable on 50Mbps Connection? |
|---|---|---|
| Web Browsing, Messaging & E-Mail: | ||
| General web browsing | 0.1-1Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 50 devices |
| Social media, instant messaging & e-mail | <0.1Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 100+ devices |
| Voice & Video Calling: | ||
| Skype/WhatsApp phone call | 0.1Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 100+ devices |
| Skype/Zoom video call | 0.5-0.8Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 60 devices |
| Skype/Zoom video call (HD) | 1.5-1.8Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 25 devices |
| Zoom group video call (HD) | 2.5-3Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 15 devices |
| Streaming Online Music & Radio: | ||
| Listening to online radio | 0.2Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 100+ devices |
| Streaming music (Spotify, Apple Music, etc) | 0.4Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 100+ devices |
| Streaming Online Video: | ||
| Watching YouTube videos (basic quality) | 0.5Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 100 devices |
| Watching YouTube videos (720p HD quality) | 2.5Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 20 devices |
| Watching YouTube videos (1080p HD quality) | 4Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 10 devices |
| Watching iPlayer/Netflix (standard definition) | 1.5Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 30 devices |
| Watching iPlayer/Netflix (high definition) | 5Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 10 devices |
| Watching iPlayer/Netflix (4K UHD) | 25Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 2 devices |
| Online Gaming: | ||
| Online Gaming (installed PC/console game) | 3Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 15 devices |
| Cloud Gaming (Stadia/PS Now/Xbox Cloud) | 10Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 5 devices |
| Cloud Gaming (4K Stadia) | 35Mbps | ✔ Yes, on 1 device |
For some activities like clamant message and e-mail, there ‘s no real limit to the number of devices you can use at the same meter. In hypothesis, things would distillery work on more than 100 devices at the same time when using a 50Mbps broadband association. In reality, however, you might reach the specify of your dwelling wi-fi network, which can start slowing down when you have lots of devices connected at the lapp fourth dimension .
Download Times
With a download speed of 50Mbps, you can download an entire music album in about 14 seconds. It will take 11 minutes to download a HD-quality film ( 1080p choice ) and about 53 minutes to download an ultra-HD quality movie ( 4K quality ). The following table shows the expected download time for multiple different types of file on a 50Mbps joining :
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| Activity | 50Mbps Download Time |
|---|---|
| Downloading a music album: | 14 seconds |
| Downloading a 2 hour movie: | 3 minutes (SD quality) 11 minutes (HD quality) 53 minutes (Ultra HD quality) |
| Downloading a PC or console game: | 2 hours |
| Downloading a mobile application: | 5 seconds |
| Downloading a high-quality photo: | <1 second |
| Downloading a web page or email: | <1 second |
typical file sizes used for our calculations : 85MB for a music album, 1GB for a standard-definition movie, 4GB for a full-HD timbre movie, 20GB for a 4K Ultra HD quality movie, 45GB for a PlayStation or Xbox cabinet bet on, 30MB for an iPhone or Android mobile lotion and 2MB for a high-quality photograph. If you ’ re calculating the download clock for another file, it ’ south important to remember that 50Mbps stands for 50 Megabits per second ( where 8 Megabits are peer to one MegaByte ). For this reason, if you ’ re downloading a 50MB ( 50 MegaByte ) file, it will take you 8 seconds to do this and not one second .
home Network Considerations
If your broadband association has a 50Mbps download speed, this refers to the amphetamine at your router or hub. This may be different from the actual travel rapidly on your individual devices. If you ‘re connecting to the internet over wi-fi, the download speed on person devices may be slower than 50Mbps. This is often due to hapless wi-fi or congestion from other networks. This will stop you from getting the full likely of your broadband service. For case, you might experience buffering when watching television on-line due to poor wi-fi, even if your broadband connection is able to support it. Where possible, you should use a electrify Ethernet connection to get the fastest available speeds. If you ‘re not able to do this, look at ways to improve the wi-fi bespeak in your home. Getting a wi-fi recidivist or a mesh wi-fi system such as BT Whole Home Wi-Fi or Google Wi-Fi can be a highly effective way of improving speeds on your home wi-fi network .
How much Does 50Mbps Broadband Cost ?
In the UK, it ’ randomness presently possible to get 50Mbps broadband with prices starting from £20/month. however, not all of the services are likely to be available at your address, so you ’ ll need to check the handiness of different services at your address. The most wide available 50Mbps plans are from BT and Sky. You can besides get Virgin Media ‘s M50 broadband ( with average speeds of 54Mbps ) in around half of all UK homes. The following board shows 50Mbps broadband plans :
| Service | Average Speed | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fast (24 months) Fast ( 24 months ) |
50Mbps download | 24 month compress | £29 | £20/month |
 Sky Superfast Sky Superfast |
59Mbps download | 18 calendar month narrow | £0 | £26/month |
 Fibre 1 Fibre 1 |
50Mbps download | 24 month contract | £29.99 | £29.99/month with £70 wages batting order |
 M50 Fibre Broadband + Weekend Calls M50 Fibre Broadband + Weekend Calls |
54Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35
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£45/month |
other Download Speeds
The monetary value and handiness of different home broadband services depends on the download amphetamine you ’ re able to get. The following board shows how much you ‘d need to pay for a broadband service with different download speeds. It besides shows the percentage handiness amongst UK households :
| Download Speed | Monthly Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| 10Mbps | From £17.99/month | 98% of UK households |
| 36Mbps | From £17.99/month | 95% of UK households |
| 50Mbps | From £20.00/month | 95% of UK households |
| 67Mbps | From £20.00/month | 95% of UK households |
| 100Mbps | From £24.00/month | 60% of UK households |
| 150Mbps | From £25.00/month | 60% of UK households |
| 200Mbps | From £28.00/month | 60% of UK households |
| 300Mbps | From £32.00/month | 60% of UK households |
| 500Mbps | From £30.00/month | 50% of UK households |
| 900Mbps | From £35.00/month | 20% of UK households |
More information
For more information, see our in-depth guides on download speed and upload accelerate. You can besides read our early home broadband guides, including our review of all the major UK broadband internet providers.