What is Wifi Bandwidth

What is bandwidth

Bandwidth is often mistaken for internet speed when it’s actually the volume of data (Netflix movies, gaming, emails etc) that can be sent over a connection in a measured amount of time – calculated in megabits per second (Mbps).

Another way to look at bandwidth is to think of it as a pipe. The pipe size is the speed of your broadband plan.

During lockdown there will generally be more people and devices using the internet. This clogs up the pipe. A remedy to fix that would be to increase the pipe size (Upgrading the plan to a faster one).

Reach out to our team today to see if they can help increase you plan! We have plenty of options ranging from Fibre broadband plans, 4g broadband plans and rural wireless broadband plans!

The term bandwidth has a number of technical meanings but since the popularization of the internet, it has generally referred to the amount of information your internet can handle at a given point of time.

An internet connection with a larger bandwidth can move a set amount of data (say, a video file or a image file) much faster than an internet connection with a lower bandwidth.

Bandwidth is typically expressed in bits per second, like 60 Mbps or 60 Mb/s, to explain a data transfer rate of 60 million bits (megabits) every second.

Why Bandwidth Is Important.

Understanding what bandwidth is can help understand what can be done to speed your internet connection up. It can also help you determine what devices are clogging up your internet connection and making it slow. Saving you time and the hassle of calling your internet provider all to find out that it was too many devices or the internet plan you are on needs to be upgraded.

For most people, those two activities are by far the biggest bandwidth hoggers that negatively affect your wifi network. Gaming consoles downloading and uploading and video streaming site of the likes of Netflix or Spark Sport. This is because the files the internet needs to download and upload and bigger in size compared to images, emails, or websites.

How Much Bandwidth Do You Have, or How Much Do You Need?

Running a speed test on fast.com can help determine how much bandwidth you have available. To note speed test are better done with a lan cable plugged into your computer and not on your phone over wifi, due to wifi being interfered with other devices around your household.

How much bandwidth you need depends on what you plan on doing with your internet connection. For the most part, more is better, constrained, of course, by your budget. if you plan on doing nothing but Facebook and the occasional video watching, your current plan will be just fine. But if you run a business you may require more bandwidth to ensure mission-critical systems and staff stay effective and productive with a faster broadband plan.

But depending on what you’re using the internet for, you might need to get a recommendation for a higher bandwidth plan. For example, if your internet runs smoothly right now but you plan to add a movie streaming service to the mix, do some research on their website for the minimum bandwidth they recommend for streaming. Or if you are aware that more people will be moving in soon then a bigger plan will accommodate for the extra users and devices connected.

If your needing assistance to help determine if your connection requires a faster plan, or what devices and activities require faster speeds get in touch with our team so they can help walk you through the process with your connection at UBB. Even if you are not a UBB customer we are happy to help show you what you possibly can get with UBB plan and how they can help your correct situation at home.

Feel free to learn more about how to improve your wifi by checking out our slow wifi tips and tricks. or reading our blog about when to use the 2.4GHz & 5GHz wifi networks at home!

And if you are struggling with emails not showing up in your inbox read our webmail or email whitelist guide.