The honest answer to "how much internet do I need to work from home" depends less on your job and more on what else your household is doing at the same time. A solo remote worker on email and one Zoom call at a time can survive on 25 Mbps. Add a partner also on video calls, a kid streaming YouTube, and a smart home worth of always-connected devices, and 25 Mbps buckles under the load.
The rough rule for modern households: 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up is a working minimum for one remote worker with normal household activity. Two remote workers, both on daily video calls, push that closer to 200 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up. Add creative work like video editing or design, and 500 Mbps starts to feel comfortable rather than luxurious.
Upload speed matters more than most people realize. When you screen share, upload a large file to a client, or run a video call, you are relying on the upload lane. Legacy cable plans with tiny 5 or 10 Mbps upload struggle in this world. For a role-by-role breakdown of what to shop for, this Xebec breakdown of remote work internet essentials is a helpful starting point.