Bandwidth is what makes everything work. The more you have, the more your connection can handle at once without slowing down.
Think of it like lanes on a highway. One lane can move traffic, but add rush hour and things grind to a halt. More lanes mean more cars can move freely, even when it's busy. Bandwidth works the same way. When your bandwidth is too low for what your household is doing, everything suffers — videos buffer, calls freeze, pages load slowly, and games lag.
For rural families who rely on the internet for work, school, healthcare, and entertainment, having enough bandwidth is important. That's exactly why Fybe is committed to bringing real, high-speed fiber internet to Northeast North Carolina areas. We believe every family in our communities deserves a connection that actually keeps up with their lives.
It depends on how many people are in your home and what everyone's doing online. Here's a simple way to think about it:
Light use(browsing, email, social media): 25 Mbps is plenty
Streaming in HD: 5–10 Mbps per screen
Streaming in 4K: At least 25 Mbps per screen
Online gaming: 25 Mbps or more for the best experience
Video calls for work: At least 2.5 Mbps upload and download
Multiple people doing all of the above at once: 500 Mbps or more is ideal
A good rule of thumb: add up the activities happening at your busiest time of day, and make sure your plan can cover all of them at once. Don't just think about what you do most — think about what everyone in your home is doing at the same time on a typical evening.
Fybe's 500 Mbps plan is a great fit for most households. If you've got a busy home with heavy users, the 5Gig plan makes sure nobody has to slow down so someone else can speed up. Not sure which plan is right for you? Give us a call at (888) 461-7549 and we'll help you figure it out.
Yes, and it's one of the most effective fixes there is. Buffering usually means your connection can't keep up with what you're trying to do. When you increase your internet speed, you give your connection more room to work with, so videos load faster, streams run smoother, and that spinning circle shows up a lot less.
That said, speed isn't the only piece of the puzzle. If your Wi-Fi signal is weak or too many devices are competing for bandwidth at once, even a fast connection can struggle. But if you've already checked those things and buffering is still a problem, moving up to a faster plan is usually the answer.
Fybe's 500 Mbps Plan is a good choice for most households. If you've got a lot of people streaming, gaming, or working from home at the same time, the 2Gig or 5Gig plans gives everyone the room they need.
The GoFybe Wi-Fi App puts you in control of your home network, right from your phone. You can:
See every device connected to your Wi-Fi
Prioritize the ones that matter most
Pause or remove devices you don't recognize
Set parental controls
Run a speed test
Update your Wi-Fi name and password
Create a guest network for visitors
If something feels off with your connection, the app is usually the best first place to look — it gives you a clear picture of what's happening on your network so you can fix it fast.
Online games don't actually need a huge amount of speed — but they need that speed to be steady and fast to respond. Here's what to look for:
Speed: 25 Mbps or more for fast-moving games
Latency (lag): Under 50 ms is good; under 20 ms is even better
Consistency: Speeds that don't jump around
Fybe's fiber network is very good for gaming because it delivers low latency and steady speeds. The 500 Mbps plan is more than enough for gaming alongside other household activity. The 2Gig or 5Gig plans are ideal if multiple family members that are online at the same time. And for the smoothest gaming experience, plug in with an Ethernet cable if you can.
Streaming and video calls are both hungry for bandwidth, and when they're competing, your video calls can pay the price. Video calls need a steady, consistent connection for both sending and receiving. When others in your home are streaming at the same time, it can eat into what's available for your call, causing freezing, lag, or choppy audio. Here are a few things that help:
Ask others to pause their streaming during your call
Connect your device with an Ethernet cable
Move up to the 2Gig plan so there's enough bandwidth for everyone to do what they need at the same time
Uploading uses your upload speed, which works separately from your download speed. Sending large files — like photos, videos, or work documents — to the internet eats into your upload bandwidth, which can slow down video calls at the same time. For most everyday tasks, Fybe's fiber plans handle this well because upload and download speeds are symmetrical — this means the speed is the same in both directions. If you regularly send large files, the 2Gig plan keeps things moving fast even when a lot is happening at once.
Usually, yes, and often by a big amount. When you plug your device directly into your modem or router with an Ethernet cable, you skip all the wireless interference and distance issues that can slow Wi-Fi down. If you're doing something where speed really matters, like online gaming, 4K streaming, or video calls for work, a wired connection is worth trying. It's a simple change that can make a real difference.
While you wait, check how many devices are connected and disconnect any you're not using.
If you can, move closer to your router or plug directly into it with an Ethernet cable.
You can also use the GoFybe Wi-Fi App to see if any devices are hogging the connection.
If buffering keeps happening after all of that, call our technical support team anytime at (888) 461-7549 — we're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Then try moving your router to a more central spot in your home, up off the floor if possible. The closer your device is to the router, the better your signal.
Reduce anything blocking the signal — walls, furniture, and appliances all make a difference.
You can also use the GoFybe Wi-Fi App to manage which devices are connected and make sure your most important ones are getting the bandwidth they need.
If you've tried all of this and things still aren't right, our support team is here 24/7.
