How Fast is Broadband Fast

Its fairly rare that I need broadband inside a project.  Yes it is certainly useful for general browsing, or up and downloading files.  This Readwrite Web article is about a comparison of speeds.   A recent project made me think about how to refresh points from a distant algorithm on a screen.  Which made me consider how fast such a network could be refreshed for a simulation.    It is still far slower than a video refresh needs to be.