As you stream video your need for a continuous amount of high speed data connectivity goes up exponentially. An HD streaming video typically ranges between 2.5 Mbps to 4 Mbps. A typical video on a webpage may use about 1000 kilobits per second (or 1 Mbps). Once you start streaming video your need for speed increases. These are very small buckets and your Rise Broadband connection fills them in fractions of a second. The size of the average email is about 100 kilobits while the average webpage without video is about 200 kilobits. If you are loading a web page (the bucket), then the faster your connection (the pressure in the hose) the faster the page will load the required data to display the page (water filling the bucket).

If you think about an Internet data connection in terms of a water hose, the more you turn up the spigot the more quickly water fills a bucket. A connection of 5 Mbps for example means the connection is passing 5000 kilobits (or 5 megabits) of data each second. It's worth noting that some of these services may not be available in your area, so be sure to read CNET's reviews of the top-scoring services (linked above) for more information.Internet connection speed is defined by how much data is transmitted through an Internet connection each second. That rating means users for each service, on average, could stream 1080p or better video with satisfactory load times and little stalling. Google Fiber and Fios essentially tied for first in broadband video experience, a category in which most of the 26 broadband providers scored a rating of very good. Google Fiber was the only provider to top the 100Mbps threshold, with an average upload speed of nearly 107Mbps, edging second place AT&T Fiber by more than 10Mbps and third place Fios by over 12Mbps. But, says CNET broadband expert Trey Paul in his review of Fios, 'if you live within Verizon's East Coast coverage area and Verizon Fios is available at your address, its internet service is tough to beat.'įor most people, the most important component of their internet service is the download speed, but there are plenty of people whose work relies on getting large files uploaded quickly. Currently, Fios is available only in eight states: Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia (plus Washington, DC).

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