Understanding Network Bandwidth vs. Speed
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The terms "internet speed" and "bandwidth" are thrown around so often that most people assume they're the same thing. While related, they describe two different aspects of your network's performance. Understanding the difference is key to knowing what you're actually testing.
What is Bandwidth?
Think of bandwidth as the width of a highway. A wider highway (higher bandwidth) can handle more cars (data) at the same time. Bandwidth is a measure of capacity—the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over your connection in a given amount of time, usually measured in megabits per second (Mbps).
What is Speed?
Speed, or latency, is how fast a single one of those cars (a packet of data) can travel from point A to point B. This is often referred to as your "ping." Low latency is crucial for real-time applications like video calls and online gaming, where delays are highly noticeable.
Why Test Bandwidth?
Your connection might have low latency (great "speed"), but if it has low bandwidth (a "narrow highway"), it will get clogged up as soon as you try to do multiple things at once. Our tool is designed to test bandwidth by creating a traffic jam on purpose. We max out the highway to see how much it can truly handle, which is a more realistic test of modern internet usage than just measuring the speed of a single car on an empty road.
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