By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

TV Answer Man, I’m thinking about getting DIRECTV Stream. But I was wondering what Internet speed would you need? I have a 25 Mbps plan from my cable company. Would that be enough? — June, College Station, Texas. 

DIRECTV Stream, the multi-channel, live streaming service, offers up to 100 channels in three different programming packages starting at $95 a month. According to its web site, DIRECTV Stream subscribers would need Internet speeds of 8 Mbps or more per device when using a home WiFi connection. For example, if there were five devices in your home connected to the WiFi network, you would need a minimum of 40 Mbps to ensure a consistent stream. That might suggest you will need at least a 50 Mbps Internet plan if you have multiple people using your WiFi network at the same time.

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I say ‘at least’ because when you connect an Internet service to a home WiFi network, the service slows down. While 50 Mbps might be your max with a wired connection, 25 Mbps or less might be the top speed with a WiFi one. With a 50 Mbps service connected to WiFi, the odds are good that your video will experience occasional, if not frequent, freezing and buffering if you have several people using it simultaneously.

Now you could just go with a wired connection by connecting your Internet modem directly to the device that will play DIRECTV Stream. That will likely cause fewer picture dropouts, but it still won’t eliminate them entirely.

So if you have several people in your household, I recommend bumping up your Internet service to 75 or 100 Mbps.

June, hopes that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.