Streaming services
In relation to broadband, streaming is simply the steady or continuous flow of data though is typically associated with on demand video services such as Netflix or Amazon prime and on demand music services such as Spotify or Apple Music. Most modern internet connections can support streaming services but there may be some limiting factors and you may need to take some steps to ensure you get the best out of them.
The first factor to consider is whether you have an unlimited or data capped service plan. If your service plan is unlimited then any data streaming will only need to be kept within reasonable use; if your service plan has a data-cap then you will need to consider and likely monitor your usage. Data consumption will vary depending on the quality of the stream, for example High Definition (HD) video streaming will utilise circa 3GB an hour - lowering the stream quality to Standard Definition (SD) will reduce this usage to approximately 1GB an hour.
The next consideration is the speed of your internet connection; different stream qualities have different bandwidth (speed) requirements and if your internet connection has lower speeds, you may only be able to stream in SD or HD rather than Full-HD. Below is a table advising of the speed requirements for the various stream qualities though it is recommended that you check the speed requirements with your specific streaming service provider as it may vary from platform to platform.
| Quality | Speed Required |
| Full-HD (4K) | 25 Mbps+ |
| HD | 3-5 Mbps |
| SD | 1-3 Mbps |
Finally, you should consider other devices and users within your household that will be using your internet connection at the same time as you. Streaming is considered a bandwidth intensive application and can impede other local devices and users and leave them with a poor service experience and you in turn may find your stream pauses and buffers a lot due to insufficient capacity being available. You can try lowering the stream quality in your application to reduce bandwidth requirements to overcome such issues and most streaming service providers will have steps on their website to achieve this.
Bentley Walker recognise that their customer demographic is primarily underserved by terrestrial infrastructure and that investment in this by the larger telecommunication operators may not be a focus at your location. With this said, there may be services newly available to you that you may not be aware of, and we have hugely diverse portfolio of products including fibre, 4G and high-speed satellite services that may well be an improvement on what you have now. If you would like some advice regarding the services available to you then please contact our team today and they will be happy to assist.