In these instances, enterprises must be able to predict bandwidth usage based on website user habits-otherwise, they could end up with an underperforming, slow-loading website that drives away visitors, or receive unexpected fees from the host when more bandwidth is required. For the website to function properly, data has to travel freely between the company network, website, and visitors to the site-especially if the website in question includes an e-commerce or customer service functionality. On a related note, business owners may have similar questions about how bandwidth affects their company’s website and choice of web hosting service (and vice versa). (Compartmentalization is another tactic MSPs employ to avoid a scenario in which multiple streams of data compete for bandwidth simultaneously.) Add it all up, and it’s clear how important it is for MSPs to design networks so that bandwidth is allocated by expected need.
In fact, popular services like Dropbox deliberately slow down the rate of downloads in order to avoid overwhelming a user’s network.Īt the same time, businesses are funneling data into their networks from an unprecedented number of sources, as devices such as surveillance cameras and IoT sensors generate significant amounts of information that are passed along to devices on business networks. Watching videos is a common activity that requires extra capacity, as is the transfer or sharing of files. An enterprise may need more bandwidth for any number of reasons, not least the fact that today’s employees use more devices than ever-not just desktop computers, but laptops, smartphones, and tablets that require a connection to the company network.Īs mentioned earlier, the specific activities performed by employees on their connected devices factor significantly into bandwidth consumption. It’s better to handle configuration as you’re setting up your network, as you may find it more difficult to make changes to your bandwidth once the network is already established.Īs a rule of thumb, businesses typically need fairly high bandwidth to accommodate day-to-day operations, although exact usage, of course, varies from company to company. MSPs can help businesses configure their networks to meet their expected bandwidth needs, as well as in anticipation of future increases in the number of devices that need to get online at once. Of course, these are theoretical calculations, and you should not expect your internet to always (or ever) achieve these maximums. Cable internet can run as fast as 50 Mbps, while fiber optic speeds take the cake, clocking in at up to 1,000 Mbps.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) internet relies on telephone lines and offers lower bandwidth capabilities, ranging from around 1.5 Mbps to 15 Mbps. If you’ve ever attempted to use the internet in a public space, like a coffee shop or library, then you know the connection is generally slower during peak usage time, when many users are trying to get online.īandwidth capacity is typically determined by the connection type. If there are too many users performing high-data activities, like watching videos or downloading files, your network speed will lag. But with too many vehicles and too few lanes, everything moves more slowly. With enough lanes and a reasonable number of cars on the road, traffic can move quickly. To understand how this all works, it helps to imagine the network as a highway, and bandwidth as the number of the lanes. A network with greater bandwidth also allows more devices to connect at once. Higher bandwidth allows data to be transferred at a faster rate (although the term “bandwidth” itself is not a synonym for internet speed). What is bandwidth usage?īandwidth refers to a network’s capacity to transfer data between devices or the internet within a particular span of time. Doing so helps managed services providers (MSPs) tailor effective solutions for those enterprises that still struggle with low bandwidth.
To make insufficient bandwidth a thing of the past, companies should invest in proven bandwidth usage monitoring tools that provide both a granular and a big-picture view of enterprise data usage. However, plenty of businesses are still plagued by poor network configurations that lead to bottlenecks and slowdowns, which in turn impact worker productivity and cut into profits.
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