Which bandwidth to use

Bandwidth vs throughput Throughput is how much information actually gets delivered in a certain amount of time. How much bandwidth do I need? Get started Test your internet connection. What is my bandwidth? How to increase bandwidth There are a number of ways to increase your bandwidth and get the most from your internet and devices. Internet plan Get a higher Mbps plan if you stream a lot of content and have more connected devices and appliances at home. Router Frequently reboot to strengthen your internet signal and connection.

Wired Try to connect computers to your router or network with an Ethernet cable. Definitions of terms related to bandwidth. Broadband Definition Broadband is the transmission of wide bandwidth data over a high speed internet connection. Learn more. Streaming Definition The technology of transmitting audio and video files in a continuous flow over a wired or wireless internet connection.

The answer is it depends on the devices that you have in your house. The answer lies closely with the type of radio broadcasting that you have chosen. The strategy to figure out the best radio broadcast can be found with out 2.

If you use 2. The simple reason is that 20 Mhz is really a supportive measure for your older devices. On the other hand, on a device that moves around a lot throughout the day like your smartphone , especially if you have a large home, the 2.

This wavelength has a longer range and can penetrate solid objects more easily than the 5 GHz band, making it ideal for devices that are taken from room to room or are more distant from the router. The exception to this is newer routers running 5 GHz Whether you choose 2. Check your specific model of router for compatibility and frequency capabilities. With a dual-band router, you can set it to transmit at both frequencies concurrently. In this case, you typically have two networks SSIDs that appear in your network list, with identical names except for a "5G" or "2.

You can then choose to connect each individual device to either network. On most newer modems , there is also a way to find the best WiFi channel for your environment and then change the channel as needed in the modem's wireless settings.

This way you can make the most of the different capabilities of 2. Open the sections below for more detailed information about WiFi speed and range. There can be a significant difference between the speed potential listed on a WiFi device and what that device can really do in everyday use.

Understanding the factors at play will help you understand how to get the best speed and performance possible. Theoretical speed is the maximum speed that is usually listed on the box. This can be misleading, because even if all conditions are ideal, you may not reach this speed all the time.

It's important to understand that:. Real-world speed accounts for factors like:. Keep in mind, every environment is different, and even in the same environment, you can get different speeds depending on the time of day and where you are located.

What does If these services are using much or all of the available bandwidth, it can cause slow page loads, buffering while watching movies or increased latency in online games.

The bandwidth needs of internet users have consistently grown since the early days of the internet with video and gaming being two of the largest drivers of higher bandwidth. While as little as Mbps may be sufficient bandwidth in many cases today, in five years nearly 40 Mbps will likely be required to provide a similar experience. In 10 years, this is likely to grow to a staggering Mbps.

These growth trends are more likely in households that rely on streaming video services, or that have teens or others who are early adopters of new technologies. While it seems nearly impossible to believe, this rate of growth has been observed since the early days of the internet.

These articles miss the point slightly by neglecting this growth factor. While the true penetration of high-speed internet remains a contentious topic, the simple fact is that there is a constant trend toward higher bandwidth services. Streaming video services have growing catalogs of 4K video content.

Gaming platforms moved to delivering new games first by download, and now services such as Google Stadia are poised to deliver games as a streaming service similar to video.