There's still no point in gigabit broadband

3 hours ago

Virgin Media upgraded the author's connection to 1Gbps at £30/month, but they question its necessity for typical domestic use.
Most devices and home network hardware, including Ethernet switches and WiFi, are limited to lower speeds, preventing full utilization of 1Gbps.
Common activities like video streaming, video calls, and downloading large files rarely require more than 100Mbps, making gigabit broadband seem excessive.
Upload speed of 110Mbps is sufficient even for intensive tasks like Twitch streaming or uploading films to platforms like Vimeo.
Latency and CDN performance are bigger factors in perceived internet speed than raw bandwidth for most web browsing.
The author sees value in future-proofing with gigabit broadband but struggles to find current practical applications that saturate the connection.
Comments from others highlight benefits for bursty downloads (e.g., games on Steam), multi-user households, and professional media uploads.
Some users have access to even faster connections (e.g., 2Gbps or 10Gbps) but face hardware limitations in utilizing them.
The overall sentiment is that while gigabit broadband is nice to have, it's often overkill for average home users in 2026.

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