


Here’s a simple way to think about it: Bandwidth is the highway, and cars are the data. Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data your connection can handle at any moment, also measured as Mbps (and increasingly Gbps, for gigabyte connections). Speed refers to the maximum rate you can transmit data, typically measured as megabits per second (Mbps). Internet speed and bandwidth are related but are different measurements of connection quality. Bandwidth: What’s the Difference, and Why Does It Matter? bandwidth, you can calculate what your business needs and take the guesswork out of shopping for the right service. Luckily, the distinction is easy to grasp.īy understanding the nuances of internet speed vs.

These missed expectations often result from a misunderstanding of internet speed vs. And we think the same thing: What happened to the blazing-fast business internet I was promised? The email that inexplicably never leaves our outbox. The connection drop that leaves edits unsaved on a contract. Generally a good way to measure your speed is to use a service like and see all that data live.It happens to all of us: The video that freezes mid sales call. This is important for gamers that want low latency responses so they don't get held back by laggy response times. Ping times are the speed at which the server responds to your device. If this number is low everything will get bottlenecked through that small bandwidth, slowing you down.

This can be important if you're in a video chat but matters less if you're downloading a movie.ĭownload, the famous figure most focused on, is always important as that's your feed from the web to you. Upload, as you may have guessed, is the speed going from your device sending data up to the interwebs. In reality it's a bit more complicated as it gets broken down into upload speeds, download speeds and then there are ping times to consider too. Until this point we've been talking about speed as a single measure.
#Internet speed upgrade#
So, to find out what is a good internet speed and whether you need to upgrade broadband deals, we're going to break it down in a bit more detail so you can apply the results to you.
#Internet speed full#
But if you've got a house full of gamers and 4K video streamers, you're going to want a line with a bit more grunt. If you're just checking emails and browsing the odd website, you can probably get away with low speeds and not even notice. It's also worth noting that what may be a good internet speed for one person could be totally useless to another.
#Internet speed 720p#
And where there was once grainy 720p video at best, now we stream in glorious 4K and HDR – all needing more internet bandwidth than ever. Home security once meant a dedicated system with solid backup but now you can stream to your phone from anywhere. As such a good speed is relative to what you need.īack in the day music and video were stored offline, but now they're streamed. In fact if you asked it two years ago you'd see a huge jump. If you asked this question ten years ago the answer would be hugely different to today. To know if you have good internet speed, you first need to know what actually is classed as a good internet speed.
