What is Bandwidth?
Bandwidth is interchangeably used with connection speed, although technically they are not exactly the same. Bandwidth is in fact a range of frequencies through which data is transmitted. The same principles apply for radio, TV and data transmission. A large bandwidth ‘range’ means that more data are transmitted at one point in time, and thus at greater speed. Technically, bandwidth is not connection speed, although they are used interchangeably by most Internet users. I will do so as well, to put you at ease.
Measuring Bandwidth
Bandwidth is measured in Hertz (Hz), or MegaHertz (MHz) because Hertz are counted in millions. One MHz is one million Hz. Connection speed (technically called the bit rate) is measured in Kilo bits per second (kbps). It is simply a measure of how many bits are transmitted in one second. I am going to use kbps or mbps to refer to transmission speed from now on, because that’s what every service provider talks about when referring to the speed they offer. One mbps is one thousand kbps.
You can have an idea of how good or bad your connection speed is and whether it is suitable for VoIP by performing online connection tests.
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