Is 1 GB of Internet overkill? A profound maybe. 1 GB of internet typically pertains to connection speed and for most households it’s more than you need. But it won’t be superfluous for all.

For example, Netflix uses 25 Mbps of download speed to stream in 4K HDR (very high resolution). This represents less than 1/40th of a 1 GB connection speed. So, unless you have 39 additional devices in your home streaming in 4K at once, you don’t need a 1 GB connection for Netflix, YouTube TV, or other online streaming platforms.

Online videoconferencing requires less than 1/200th of a 1 GB connection. How many people at your home are on work calls at one time? Probably fewer than 200.

Why are we hearing so much about 1 GB plans? Because they’re available in some areas and because they generally cost more than basic plans. Internet service providers must continually upgrade their equipment to remain competitive and this requires capital. Premium plans can help offset these costs.

Who might legitimately need 1 GB of speed? If you routinely upload huge files to a server, whether to back them up, or to send them to a website for work or other reasons, lower-speed connection plans also have slower upload speeds. Buying a 1 GB plan could double your upload speeds and if the connection type of fiber optic you likely will get matching download and upload speeds; meaning, upload speeds potentially of 1 GB. Or, you may just really want a much faster internet connection and can afford it. So be it.

The secondary way 1 GB is used relates to the data amount that comes with data-capped plans. In such cases you likely would need more than 1 GB of data in a month even if all you do is basic web surfing. Basic web browsing uses around 60 MB of data per hour. A 1-GB data plan would allow you to surf about a half hour each day in a 30-day billing cycle. Casual browsing uses 15 MB an hour so if that’s all you do, you’d have 65 hours of casual browsing data per month, which equates to 2 or so hours per day. The average person in the U.S. now spends 2.5 hours a day just on social media. YouTube videos can use up to 115 MB of data per hour. Ten hours of that over 30 days could easily cause you to hit the wall before you do anything else online. Online gaming uses 43 MB of data in an hour. The most demanding gamers can use several hundreds of MB per hour.

When it comes to internet speed 1 GB can be overkill but when it comes to internet data 1GB of data can be consumed faster than expected.