Buying advice
What broadband speed do you need for IPTV in the UK?
Most UK homes now have superfast or full-fibre broadband, which is plenty for IPTV. But the headline speed on your bill is not the whole story: what matters is the speed that actually reaches your TV, at the time you are watching, with everyone else in the house online too.
Speed needed per screen
| Picture quality | Minimum | Comfortable |
|---|---|---|
| SD | 4 Mbps | 6 Mbps |
| HD (720p) | 8 Mbps | 10 Mbps |
| Full HD (1080p) | 15 Mbps | 25 Mbps |
| 4K (2160p) | 30 Mbps | 40 Mbps+ |
The “comfortable” column leaves headroom for the dips that happen on busy evenings.
Planning for several screens
Add up the screens that will be streaming at the same time. Two Full HD streams and one 4K stream need roughly 25 + 25 + 40 = 90 Mbps for a trouble-free evening. A typical 70 Mbps fibre-to-the-cabinet line can still manage that if one screen drops to HD; a 150 Mbps or faster full-fibre line handles it easily.
Your Wi-Fi is often the real bottleneck
It is common to pay for 150 Mbps and receive 20 Mbps at the TV because the router is two floors away. To get the speed you pay for:
- Use a network cable wherever you can, including an Ethernet adapter for Firesticks.
- Connect to the 5 GHz band rather than 2.4 GHz.
- Move the router out of cupboards and away from the floor.
- Consider mesh Wi-Fi or powerline adapters in larger or older homes with thick walls.
How to test properly
Run a speed test on the streaming device itself, in the room where you watch, at the time you usually watch. Test twice: once on Wi-Fi and once with a cable if possible, to see how much your wireless network is costing you.
Mobile data
Streaming on 4G or 5G works well, but it uses data quickly: around 1.5 GB an hour in HD and 3 GB or more in Full HD. Pick SD or HD channels when you are away from Wi-Fi.
If your speed checks out but the picture still pauses, see our nine buffering fixes. Ready to choose a plan? Compare plans for 1 to 5 screens.