2. Bandwidth
The speed of a network is measured in bits per second which are normally grouped up for convenience. These groups are:-
- Kilobits per second (Kbps), a thousand bits per second.
- Megabits per second (Mbps), a million bits per second.
- Gigabits per second (Gbps), a thousand million bits per second.
The term for this is the 'bandwidth' of the network. It describes how much data can be transferred over a connection in a given time.
The table below shows the bandwidth of various networks
You do not have to memorise all these numbers, it is just to show that networks come in a range of bandwidths:
Bandwidth | Decription |
---|---|
56Kbps | Bandwidth of a non-broadband dial-up modem |
2 to 10 Mbps | Basic copper wire based broadband (download bandwidth) |
10 to 75 Mbps | Fibre-Optic based broadband (download bandwidth) |
10 - 100 Mbps | Ethernet wired network using Cat-5 cable |
1 Gbps - 10 Gbps | Ethernet wired network using Cat-6 cable |
54 - 150 Mbps | Standard Wi-Fi connection |
900 Mbps | Fast Wi-Fi |
As you would expect, the higher the bandwidth, the more expensive it becomes because of the cost of the cables and equipment. So choosing a network connection is a matter of balancing cost and performance.
Challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you
Click on this link: Typical Ethernet speeds