Networking terms can be confusing, especially if you are not familiar with networking and these terms. Sometimes these terms can make you scratch your head. So, let’s talk about one of the most popular terms, Internet Bandwidth! What is Internet Bandwidth? How does it work? What is the difference between Internet Bandwidth and Internet Speed?
Internet Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred per second over a network or internet connection. For instance, if your internet connection has a bandwidth of 100 Mbps then it means that 100 Megabits of data is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred to your network per second.
Let’s say that you are downloading a huge file. If your bandwidth is high then it will take less time for the download to finish and if the bandwidth is low then it will take more time for the download to complete.
The actual meaning of the word bandwidth is totally different from what it is being used for in the computer networking field. The actual mean of bandwidth is in the network signaling field where it denotes a range of frequencies within a given frequency band.
What is the difference between Internet Bandwidth and Internet Speed?
These two terms are mistakenly used and they are different from each other. Internet Bandwidth the maximum amount of data transfer per second while Internet Speed is the speed or rate at which the data is transferred.
These two terms are different from each other. Your internet bandwidth may be higher but your internet speed won’t be. Also, your internet speed can also be equivalent to your internet bandwidth in some cases but mostly it is not because there are various factors that contribute to the varying internet speeds.
When you are using normal internet services such as web browsing then in those instances your internet speed may be equivalent to your internet bandwidth and both can be used in place of each other.
However, when you are doing a file from a web server then the download speed may not be equivalent to the bandwidth of your internet connection because there are various factors that contribute to the internet speed of your connection, such as physical location between the severs, numbers of users simultaneously connected to the ISP, internet protocol or the capacity of infrastructure.
A typical example of this would be that your download speed would be much higher if the server from which you are downloading is closer to your real location or if the number of users connected to ISP is less and the download speed would be less if the server is far away from you or if you are downloading the file during peak hours when there are tons of users connected to the ISP.
To summarize it all in one para, your internet bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over a period of time while internet speed is how fast that data can be transferred. Your Internet Bandwidth and Internet Speed may be equivalent to each other in some cases but in most cases, they are not.