Bandwidth
The maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over a network connection in a given time – critical for cloud applications and digital business processes.
Bandwidth is to digital business what road width is to traffic: it determines how much data can flow at once. With cloud computing, video calls and data-heavy SaaS, sufficient bandwidth is not a luxury but business-critical infrastructure.
What is Bandwidth?
Bandwidth is the maximum data transfer rate of a network connection, measured in bits per second (bps). Common units are Mbit/s and Gbit/s. Bandwidth is not the same as speed – it describes capacity, not latency. High bandwidth means many data can be sent at once. Usable bandwidth is limited by the bottleneck in the path.
How does Bandwidth work?
Bandwidth is determined by the medium (fibre, copper, wireless), protocol and network configuration. Fibre offers the highest bandwidth (up to 100+ Gbit/s), then Ethernet (1–10 Gbit/s) and Wi-Fi (up to 9.6 Gbit/s with Wi-Fi 6E in theory). QoS (Quality of Service) can prioritise bandwidth for critical apps (VoIP, video). CDNs distribute content globally and reduce load on the origin server.
Practical Examples
An HD video call needs about 3–5 Mbit/s per participant – 20 concurrent meetings need 60–100 Mbit/s for that alone.
A 100 GB cloud backup at 100 Mbit/s upload takes about 2.5 hours – at 1 Gbit/s about 15 minutes.
A shop with 50,000 visitors/day and ~2 MB per page needs about 100 GB transfer per day – a CDN greatly reduces origin load.
A factory streams sensor data from 500 IoT devices in real time – small packets but many connections need enough bandwidth.
Typical Use Cases
Cloud migration: Sufficient bandwidth is a prerequisite for SaaS, IaaS and PaaS
Remote work: Video calls, VPN and cloud collaboration need stable broadband
Website performance: CDN and bandwidth optimisation directly affect load times and SEO
Data-heavy applications: Big data, ML and video streaming need high throughput
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
- High bandwidth enables cloud-first strategies and reduces dependence on local hardware
- Better UX: Faster loads, smooth video calls, responsive cloud apps
- Scalability: Cloud bandwidth can be increased on demand
- Fibre rollout is making gigabit bandwidth more affordable
Disadvantages
- Availability: In rural areas high bandwidth is often still limited
- Cost: Enterprise fibre and cloud data transfer can be expensive
- Shared bandwidth: In multi-tenant buildings bandwidth is shared
- Asymmetry: Many consumer lines have high download but low upload
Frequently Asked Questions about Bandwidth
How much bandwidth does my business need?
What is the difference between bandwidth and latency?
How can I test my bandwidth?
Related Terms
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