What should be the speed required by YouTube to stream without buffering

[Kamalap]

What is the ideal internet speed required to watch YouTube videos over internet. Currently I am planning to buy Hathway broadband plan of 512 Kbps. Is this speed is ok for watching YouTube videos on browser without buffering. Currently I am using 384 kbps plan. It requires around 30 to 40 seconds of pause. To watch the video flawlessly on this plan. Suggest a speed which will be ok for watching YouTube videos.

[Caiden]

384 kbps or 512 kbps plans are not useful to watch video continuously. You need to get some pause in between. Hathway has 512 as well as 1mbps and 2mbps plans. Currently I am using 1mbps plan form mtnl broadband. As specified 1mbps I am getting around 80% of specified speed so it’s ok. But while watching YouTube at 1mbps requires pausing the video. The video size format also matters in video quality while watching if we watch video in lowest size i.e 240p will look bad. So I will suggest you to buy the 2mbps plan if it is in your budget.

[Sean J]

There are different video size formats (quality format) available on YouTube I have tested all the speed available from all internet service provider to create list of speed. It is accurate as per my information check this if you want to buy any plan. There different size format of videos i.e. 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p
The list is as below
240p video requires 1mbps
360p video requires 1mbps to 2mbps
480p video requires 2mbps to 5mbps
720p video requires 5mbps to 8mbps
1080p video requires 10mbps to 12 mbps
Those are the speed for different video size formats.

[Level8]

I am using 1.8 mbps plan. When I watch YouTube video on it at this speed also it requires buffering. So one of the best way is to give some seconds to load the video and then watch the entire video in one go. And also you can use add-ons for Firefox. One of it is flashGot. It will increase the speed of the video while watching it. The other think you can use is SpeedBit video accelerator. It will also help to watch video flawlessly.

[Roxy_jacob]

The 2mbps plan is good for watching YouTube video. But first you know why we get buffering issue while watching it depends on actually the quality of the video youtube has 240p , 360p , 480p , 720p , 1080p. 240p is slightly bad quality video where 360 is normal and 480p good for watching in full screen. But the 720p and 1080p are high quality video. So if you try to watch the video in 720p at my speed that is 2mbps then it will stops for buffering since it is in the high quality. And if I watch the same video in 480p or 360p then I can watch it at this speed without any buffer.

[Daniel23]

I am using MTNL 0.7 mbps plan. This works for me for watching the YouTube videos. My friend having 1mbps plane which runs YouTube video of 360p correctly. And I am also able to play 360p videos on my 0.7 mbps plan. So the list provided by him is quiet wrong for me. Sometimes he also can able to watch 480p videos. But for watching 480p videos without having any problem then it will be 2mbps plan. And for 720p 4mbps plan will suit perfectly. So I am recommending you to buy the 2mbps plane to watch videos at 480p without interruption.