Is 400 Mbps good? 400 Mbps vs the US median

Yes, 400 Mbps is very fast. It's more than any household needs for streaming, video calls and gaming at once, and it's close to the typical US home connection. Ookla's Speedtest Global Index for the US puts the median fixed-broadband download at roughly 300 to 400 Mbps in its latest figures.

400 Mbps against the averages

The Global Index page for the US shows two sets of fixed-broadband figures for September 2026, about 314 Mbps and about 403 Mbps, without clearly labeling what separates them. Either way, 400 Mbps sits at or slightly above the middle of US results. That makes it "average" among people who run Speedtest, not slow. Average internet speed in the US explains where these medians come from and why they shift.

400 Mbps is four times the FCC's 100 Mbps download benchmark for fixed broadband. The benchmark also asks for 20 Mbps up, so check the plan's upload too.

What you get over 300 or 500 Mbps

The extra speed only shows up in big downloads and uploads. Here's a 50 GB game at full speed, using 50 × 8,000 ÷ speed:

• 300 Mbps: about 22 minutes
• 400 Mbps: about 17 minutes
• 500 Mbps: about 13 minutes

Streaming, browsing and calls feel the same on all three, because none of them come close to using 300 Mbps. If you're choosing between tiers, is 300 Mbps good and is 500 Mbps good cover the neighbors. Pick on price and upload, not on the download difference.

When 400 Mbps is overkill

For one or two people who stream and browse, 400 Mbps is far more than needed. Streaming services recommend 15–25 Mbps for 4K (Netflix 15 Mbps, Disney+ 25 Mbps), so two people watching 4K at once need about 30–50 Mbps.

400 Mbps makes sense when:

• Five or more people are online in the evening.
• Someone downloads large games or video files every week.
• The household uploads a lot and the 400 Mbps plan comes with a larger upload than cheaper tiers.
• The price difference from a slower tier is small.

Where 400 Mbps plans come from

400 Mbps is common on cable (DOCSIS 3.1) and fiber. Verizon, for example, sells a 400/400 Fios fiber tier listed on its network performance page, with the same speed both ways. Cable plans at this tier usually upload far slower than they download.

5G home internet can reach this range too. T-Mobile lists typical speeds of 170–498 Mbps down on its top plans in its home internet FAQ, though wireless speeds vary more through the day. How fast is 5G home internet covers the details.

Why your devices may not see 400 Mbps

At this speed the plan is rarely the bottleneck. The rest of the setup often is:

• Wi-Fi. An older laptop or phone, or any device a few walls away from the router, may only manage a fraction of 400 Mbps. That's normal and has nothing to do with the plan. Why Wi-Fi is slower than Ethernet explains it.
• The router. An old ISP router or a Wi-Fi 4 model can cap speeds well below 400 Mbps.
• The cable. A gigabit Ethernet port and a Cat5e or better cable handle 400 Mbps easily. A damaged or very old cable can drop the link to 100 Mbps.
• The server. Many download servers send slower than 400 Mbps per connection.

How to check you're getting 400 Mbps

Plug a computer into the router with an Ethernet cable and run the speed test. A result in the high 300s is a healthy 400 Mbps line, because some capacity is used by protocol overhead. If wired results are close but Wi-Fi results are far lower, upgrade the router or add a mesh point before you pay for a faster plan.