Back to School Internet: What Speed Do You Need for Remote Learning and Homework?

Summer ends in the blink of your eye, and before you know it, kids are back to school. Those late-night binge-watching sessions suddenly turn into assignments, research projects, online tutoring, and homework. When the online requirements change, your internet performance might alter too. You switch from one TV in the living room to multiple screens spread across your home. This calls for greater bandwidth, wider signal range, and sometimes more speed too!

To help you navigate the back-to-school lifestyle, this blog explores:

• How much internet speed do students need?
• Best internet for students
• Parental controls and content filtering every parent should know about
• Signs it’s time to upgrade your home internet

Let’s set you up before the school bus arrives!

How Much Internet Speed Do Students Need?

Schoolwork relies more on the internet today than it did a decade ago. With online school portals, digital classes, remote lectures, and online homework, students need faster upload and download speeds, greater bandwidth, and lower-latency internet to smoothly participate in their studies.

The most common online activities that students participate in include:

• Video classes
• Uploading homework
• Online assessments
• Research work

Your internet speed requirement for online video classes primarily depends on the number of users attending a live class simultaneously. For each distance learning user, you need at least 25 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speed for smooth video calls. If more people at home are using the internet during this time for heavy online activities like gaming, HD streaming, or video calling, you will need faster speeds. So, keep in mind the overall usage when you calculate your speed needs.

Similarly, an upload speed of 10 Mbps to 40 Mbps is required for most work uploads, depending on the file size. Text documents require only lower speeds, while for larger files with video content or a presentation, you will need a faster speed.

Here’s a quick look at common online activities students need the internet for, and how much speed they require:

Best Internet Options for Students

Here are some of the top internet providers and plans for students. We recommend these plans for their affordable pricing, symmetrical speeds, unlimited data, consistent pricing, and no contracts.

*Price + taxes & fees for new customers in select households after discounts w/ elig AutoPay & Paperless bill. Limited availability/areas. See Details. See Broadband Facts: www.att.com/dapbbfacts
** w/ Auto Pay & any Verizon mobile phone plan.

Parental Controls and Content Filtering Every Parent Should Know About

Most internet service providers offer parental controls via dedicated apps that allow parents to monitor and filter content according to their preferences. You can either use the provider-offered parental controls or alter your network settings for safer browsing when allowing internet access to children at home.

To manage router settings for content filtering, follow these simple steps:

• Find the IP address of your network under the router and log in via a browser
• Navigate to the DNS settings
• Use 1.1.1.1 to block malware and adult content
• Save changes before you exit

With these small changes, you can allow your children to access the internet for schoolwork without worrying about constantly keeping a check.

Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your Home Internet Before Schools Reopen

If your streams lag, video calls drop, and it takes forever to upload a file, chances are your internet needs are not being met by your current internet plan. This can get increasingly frustrating when school kids have deadlines to meet and online quizzes to take.

However, before you jump onto another plan or provider, make sure you reevaluate your internet speed requirements. Add up all the online activities you need the internet for and keep in mind how many users you have at home. You can also use your speed calculator to check how much speed would suit your household.

Once you know how much speed would work for you, take a speed test to check if your current plan is meeting that requirement. If it's not, it’s time to upgrade your internet before students at home start complaining.