Broadband: Latency and Bandwidth Are Not the Same Thing

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If you have been an avid internet user, time and again, you must have heard these two terms – ‘bandwidth’ and ‘latency’. Many people confuse them to be the same thing, but they are not. In the case of bandwidth, the more, the better, while in the case of latency, the lesser, the better. Understanding the difference between the two can help you get the most out of your internet connection. Let’s take a look at the definition of both terms.

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What is Bandwidth?

‘Bandwidth’ isn’t just a fancy word for internet speed like many assume it to be. Bandwidth means the amount of data that can be transferred from point A to point B at a given time. Thus, higher bandwidth would mean that more amount of data can be transferred at a point in time.

When it comes to an internet connection, bandwidth is measured in terms of how much data can be downloaded to your device at a given time. One thing to note here is that the actual bandwidth your get will always be lesser than the total bandwidth of the network because of congestion and other factors.

What is Latency?

‘Latency’ means the time taken by the signal for going to the destination and travelling back. The computer sends a ‘ping’ to a remote server and measures the amount of time it takes for the ping to come back with the information.

Thus lower latency will mean that the time taken by the ping is lesser, so the results will appear faster. Higher latency would mean that the results on the screen take longer to come.