When We Say Fast Internet, We Mean Gigabit Fast

When we say fast, we mean it

Every listing says "fast Wi-Fi". It usually means "fine, until two people are on video calls". So here are our actual numbers: every StrataSix apartment in Medellín has a 1,000 Mbps fiber line, the same speed up and down, and our apartment on Playa Mansa in Punta del Este has 500 Mbps fiber. Both have a wired connection available if you would rather plug in than trust the air.

Fiber plan speeds in megabits per second. Longer bar, faster line.

Medellín apartments

Wired connection available

Download 1,000 Mbps

Upload 1,000 Mbps

Punta del Este apartment

Wired connection available

Download 500 Mbps

One HD video call (send)

Upload 3.8 Mbps

80 sto download a 10 GB file in Medellín

250+HD video calls of upload headroom

500 Mbpsby the beach in Punta del Este

Video call figure: Zoom's published minimum for sending 1080p video. File time and call capacity are theoretical comparisons before overhead and device limits.

What a gigabit actually feels like

The chart is on one honest scale, which is why the grey sliver for a video call is barely there. Zoom's published minimum for sending 1080p video is about 3.8 Mbps. Dividing our Medellín upload plan speed by that requirement gives bandwidth equivalent to more than 250 calls. That is a theoretical comparison, not a promise of simultaneous calls: devices, network overhead and the service itself also set limits. In practice that means:

• Uploads finish before you look away. A 10 GB file has a theoretical transfer time of 80 seconds at a full gigabit, before network overhead and server limits, so sending raw footage, a design export or a database dump stops being a coffee break.
• Upload is as fast as download. Most home internet is fast one way and slow the other. Symmetric fiber matters most when you are the one presenting, streaming or pushing work to the cloud.
• There is room to share. A partner on a call, a team standup and a 4K film in the evening do not compete for scraps.

Wi-Fi, cable or both

Those are the line speeds into the apartment. Wi-Fi in a room always delivers less than the line, depending on your device, walls and distance from the router, which is why we keep a wired option. If your work depends on a rock-steady connection (live calls, trading, streaming, big uploads), plug in and get as close to the full line as your laptop allows. Bring a USB-C to Ethernet adapter if your laptop has no network port.

Punta del Este: 500 Mbps by the beach

Our three-bedroom at Parada 18 de la Mansa has 500 Mbps fiber and a standing desk with a monitor, so a working week by the beach is a real option rather than a gamble. Wired is available there too.

Before an important call

Fiber is reliable, but no single connection is fail-proof. Keep some mobile data as a backup, test your setup before a high-stakes meeting and tell us if anything feels slow: we would rather fix it the same day than have you work around it.

Ready to put it to work? Explore our Medellín apartments or our home on Playa Mansa.