We’ve come a long way since dial-up internet service over telephone lines emerged in the early 1990s. Dial-up connections, which offered a maximum download speed of 56 kilobits per second, or Kbps, were quickly surpassed by broadband — digital subscriber line, or DSL, and cable internet with speeds of at least 25 megabits per second, or Mbps.

In recent years, fiber internet has become widely recognized as the gold standard for high-speed internet. Fiber internet uses thin strands of glass to transmit data as light signals, enabling exponentially faster speeds and greater bandwidth capacity than ever before. Fiber is also more resilient, which translates to less downtime, and uses less energy, making it a greener choice.

Today, internet over fiber with speeds as high as 3 gigabits per second, or Gbps, is available throughout our state, and accessibility continues to grow with the expansion of fiber. Three Gbps equals 3,000 Mbps, or 3 million Kbps — that makes it more than 53,000 times as fast as dial-up. Downloading a 20-gig 4K ultrahigh-definition video that’s one hour in length takes about 50 minutes over a 3-gig connection; it would take days over 56 Kbps.

As technology continues to improve and internet speeds keep increasing, you might ask yourself whether all that bandwidth is necessary for your personal needs. The truth is, many people find that a top-speed internet service plan is essential in today’s connected world. Here are a few reasons your residence might benefit from multigigabit-speed internet.

Multiple connected devices

The first thing to understand about internet speeds is that each connected device splits the total bandwidth. Example: You have a 100-Mbps internet connection over a WiFi network at home. You and your spouse connect to this 100-Mbps WiFi network, and each of you begins to download a file at the same time. All things being equal, such as the type of devices and the size of the files, each of you would experience download speeds of about 50 Mbps. If two additional users each started downloading a large file, the speed would drop to 25 Mbps for each of the four users in the household.

Think of all the devices in your home that use an internet connection: laptops for work, school and personal use; tablets; smartphones; smart TVs; gaming consoles; and smart home appliances such as lighting, speakers and even refrigerators. If you live with family members or roommates, be sure to include their devices as well. You might be surprised by how many devices are in use in your home at the same time.

According to a study by Deloitte, the average U.S. home has 21 connected devices. All these devices share your internet service plan’s bandwidth, lowering your available internet speed. Choosing a higher-speed plan can help ensure there’s adequate bandwidth for everyone.

Increasing use of bandwidth

Two of the most popular ways to relax at home are streaming videos and playing online video games. According to Forbes, Americans spend over 21 hours per week consuming streaming media. And these activities are bandwidth hogs!

Watching the latest high-definition movies and TV shows through an online streaming service can require massive amounts of bandwidth for a seamless experience with no buffering, especially as video quality continues to improve.

With today’s enormous game environments with players joining from all over the world, high download and upload speeds are required to enjoy a lag-free experience. Gamers might find it beneficial to seek not only a high-speed internet plan, but one with symmetrical (equal for both upload and download) speeds.

Working from home

Technology has made remote work a reality for many employees in Hawaii, and if you’re among those who work even part of the time at home, you want to be sure that your internet connection is reliable and meets your needs. Whether you’re videoconferencing with project stakeholders or collaborating on large files stored via the cloud, high-speed internet is crucial to your productivity.

If your household has multiple connected devices, is increasingly using more bandwidth or includes folks who work from home, or if you’ve noticed lag or a slowdown in your internet connection, there’s no need to struggle. Multigigabit internet speed is here.

Ann Nishida Fry is senior manager of corporate communications at Hawaiian Telcom. Reach her at ann.nishida@hawaiiantel.com.