What Internet Speed Do I Need from DirecTV?

In contemporary times, with advancing technology, most people in the United States are shifting from the traditional cable and satellite TV towards stream live TV accessible over the internet. DirecTV is a subsidiary of AT&T, offering comprehensive satellite and streaming TV services that allow customers in the U.S. and surrounding regions to watch their favorite entertainment media online. With more than 20 million customers, DirecTV plans feature quality TV, home phone, and internet services to households across 50 states, with a 99% signal reliability.

As a customer, you can upgrade your DIRECTV subscription plan or package to feature over 80,000 live and recorded On Demand programs, including sports, local and breaking news, popular shows, and movies on premium networks such as Starz, Showtime, HBO, and Cinemax. All DirecTV plans come with a High-Definition Digital Video Recorder (HD DVR), Genie, that can also store up to over 200 hours of your favorite content and help you discover new shows by suggesting programs based on the media you watch.

To get unlimited streaming, most customers bundle the satellite service provider's signal with Wi-Fi from AT&T Internet that allows connecting up to 8 TVs to one device. However, if AT&T Internet does not serve your area, you can exploit other bundling options from providers such as Centurylink, Verizon, and HughesNet for your DirecTV service.

Through the DIRECTV App, you can enjoy the convenience of streaming from different locations like holiday destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America, using your web-enabled tablet, laptop, or phone. Before moving to a live streaming TV service, here's a guide to help you with the internet speed you need from DirecTV.

What internet speed do I need from DirecTV?

The wireless internet connection's speed in your home is usually shared among the devices connected to it. Thus, you may have a fairly good internet package and still experience lags and other inconveniences when accessing the DirecTV streaming service. This is because different applications have varying internet speed requirements to operate optimally. For instance, basic web browsing and sending emails doesn't require high speeds, whereas streaming high-definition videos, including movies in 4K Ultra HD, on DirecTV requires fast, reliable internet connectivity.

From its support page, AT&T offers insights on the internet speed you need from its streaming service, including DirecTV:

• A minimum of 24 Mbps for your home Wi-Fi or wired connection. This speed is convenient for those watching on 3 devices connected to the home internet, indicating an average, optimum speed of 8Mbps for each device.
• At least the Internet 25 plan If you're bundling with AT&T Internet to enable you to watch on up to three streams.
• Data plans with internet speeds ranging from 150Kbps to 2.5Mbps for standard-definition streaming on your mobile device and those delivering 2.5 to 7.5Mbps for high-definition quality. However, the company recommends speeds of at least 12Mbps per stream for the best quality.

It would help if you acknowledged that a higher internet speed is required for streaming movies and TV shows in HD video quality and watching multiple streams. If you're experiencing major lags, you could check if your internet service provider caps your data or bandwidth since the video quality is directly proportional to the bandwidth. If that's the case, you could try altering the settings from high to medium or low video quality.

Alternative method

You can reach out to DirecTV customer service over the phone to help you figure out the internet speed you need from DirecTV. You can also contact the support team via DirecTV Live Chat, Twitter, and Facebook or Messenger.