by Stephanie Ly

Created on: April 02, 2010   Last Updated: April 03, 2010

As an Internet user or a website owner you would have across the term bandwidth. Bandwidth is defined as the amount of data that is transferred from one point to another in a given time period, usually measured in bits/sec. For the Internet user, an Internet connection with a larger bandwidth allows much faster connection resulting in quicker downloads and uploads. For the website owner, hosting your website on a plan with larger bandwidth allows visitors to load your website faster and also download any files, videos, software etc at a much greater speed. Let’s look at bandwidth in more detail.

First let’s clarify how the Internet works. A network is two or more computers interconnected to each other. The Internet is a global system consisting of millions of computer networks. The Internets network is linked via a collection of wires and optical networking cables. Bandwidth refers to the cluster of wires connecting servers to the network. Files are transferred from the servers through this network of fibres at variable speeds. The speed at which data is transferred depends on the grade and quality of the wire. The more people that connect to the network at the same time, the slower the connection becomes.

An analogy of bandwidth is for example a road where the road is the cable connecting users to the network.  If no one is accessing the road, then you can drive along it quickly and get to the other end without any hassles. If there are hundreds of others wanting to use the same road at the same time then you will get a congested road and the time it takes for you to get to the other side is forever. The bigger the road is built, the more cars it can accommodate. This is the same with bandwidth, the better the quality of the wires the faster the speed.

Internet users tend to spend much time looking for information or products to buy or download. The rate at which you can access this information is determined by the bandwidth provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your internet service provider, for example, may restrict or limit the bandwidth of your Internet connection particularly during peak hours or if they have used their limit for the month. This limited bandwidth will consequently affect the rate at which you can access the internet. It is therefore a good idea if you use the Internet a lot that you choose an ISP which can provide you with greater bandwidth with minimal restrictions.

Bandwidth also plays an important role for website owners who are choosing a web hosting service for their website. They need to be certain that their website is hosted with a web hosting plan that gives them sufficient bandwidth. Most web hosting companies offer a variety of hosting packages and sometimes the different packages have different restrictions on the amount of bandwidth provided. There are some web hosting services though that are large enough to offer unlimited bandwidth at affordable and competitive prices.

Overall, bandwidth is important to both the Internet user and to a website owner. If you are a website owner, it is best you try to estimate your potential bandwidth usage. Some web hosts charge extra if your go over the bandwidth limit. Small websites usually require about 1GB per month. If unsure you can always ask your web hosting company to estimate for you. Otherwise you may want to choose a hosting plan that provides you unlimited bandwidth so that you do not have to worry about it as you are growing your website.

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