What is Bandwidth in Networking? – Updated July 2024
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Bandwidth Calculator - Calculate File and Data Transfer times
Our transfer data calculator accurately calculates the transfer time of any file when you provide the file size and available bandwidth.
The speed test results are the same regardless of how you upload your data.
What is Bandwidth?
Bandwidth is the amount of data a device can transfer over a network or internet connection within a set time frame.
Bandwidth frequently needs to be clarified with internet speed.
Internet speed is measured in milliseconds and refers to how quickly your device can send a packet to a remote device.
Bandwidth is how much data you can transfer; this measurement uses the internet speed in its calculation.
How to Calculate file transfer speed
File size / (Internet connection speed in Mbps /8). = Transfer time in seconds.
Example:
1MB file on an 8Mbps will upload in approximately one second.
How long does it take to upload \ download data?
0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds
Maximising Upload Speed
Here are some tips to potentially improve your upload speed: Here are some tips to potentially improve your upload speed:
The internet connection needs to be improved for a higher class if it is available with the ISP.
Connect your device via Ethernet cable since it establishes a far better connection than Wi-Fi.
Look at activity lists and quit programs that may use up bandwidth when not used.
Bandwidth vs. Internet Speed
Though bandwidth and internet speed are similar in their function in providing a trouble-free online experience, they are different.
Just as the size of a pipe matters when considering water availability, so does the amount of bandwidth, while internet speed is the flow of water through the pipe. So, a pipe of significant size or higher bandwidth can take more water or data, but the water’s pressure or data’s speed can still fluctuate.
Data transfer Vs speed test
Many websites and tools use the term Speedtest, which is only partially true of what they measure.
When the test starts, it will display the ping speed between your device and the server running it.
The speed test will return a speed result of 30 Ms (milliseconds). As the name suggests, one second has 1000 milliseconds, but not one million.
The ping time of 30 Ms is the actual speed test of your connection, but we want to know the available bandwidth when estimating how long it will take to transfer data.
The screenshot below is taken from our Azure speed test tool, showing the ping speed in milliseconds.
Bandwidth vs. Throughput: World Questions: What's the Difference?
While often used interchangeably, bandwidth and throughput are distinct concepts: Even though people often use these terms interchangeably, bandwidth differs from throughput.
Bandwidth is, therefore, a measure of a network’s carrying capacity or ability to handle information traffic at any given time, just like the width of a pipe. It determines the throughput or bandwidth that is available to carry the data.
Mean throughput is activity throughput, and it determines the rate at which data moves through the network depending on parameters such as traffic intensity, equipment, and data errors.
Bandwidth describes road capacity or the maximum amount you can carry per second, while throughput refers to what you take; it is the speed at which cars are moving. A broad channel is possible, but the network’s traffic will transfer low data per time unit.
Why Bandwidth Matters: Effects for You Online
The flow rate, also known as bandwidth, is vital for efficient internet use. Here’s how it affects your daily activities:
- Streaming: More bandwidth means displaying beautiful picture quality, less interruption during play, and the possibility of streaming many devices at once.
- Online Gaming: Sufficient bandwidth means low latency and little or no lag, so the game runs smoothly.
- Video Calls: Bandwidth ensures good audio and video quality, particularly during group or conferencing calls.
- File Sharing and Downloads: More bandwidth means one can download and upload files faster, thus saving time.
- Multiple Devices: If you use more than one device to connect to the internet, adequate bandwidth will minimise slow connections and buffering.
Optimising Your Network for Maximum Bandwidth
To get the most out of your internet connection, consider these tips: You can make better use of your internet connection by trying the following:
- Wired Connection: The connection type is Ethernet cable instead of WLAN, as the connection speed remains constant.
- Router Placement: Place the router in a central spot to avoid interference from other devices and thus enjoy the strongest wireless network.
- Router Firmware: Update your router’s firmware, which provides improved performance and additional protection.
- Channel Selection: Select the free channel from all the available channels to decrease the disturbance from the other networks.
- Device Optimisation: Minimise general use of other applications and limit downloading other content in the background to find more bandwidth.
Data transfer terms used by the bandwidth calculator
Mbps and Kbps
Mbps stands for Mega Bits Per Second, and sometimes people write it as Mbit/s. It is a standard metric term used by ISPs and networking device manufacturers.
Kbps is short for Kilo Bits Per Second and is a slow and obsolete measurement.
You might be more familiar with bytes and megabytes when discussing RAM and hard disks. To convert a bit to a byte, multiply by 8.
You won’t see the term Bits used elsewhere other than in networking because it is more impressive for ISPs to advertise their bandwidth as 100 Mbps rather than 1.5 Mb/s (Megabytes per second). Typically, people use Mb/s to show how much data a connection has transferred.
Testing your internet speed from the command line
You can check the speed of your connection in milliseconds by using the command ping bbc.co.uk or your preferred site address (make sure it accepts the ping command).
This command works on Windows and Linux.
If you are using a DSL \ Broadband connection, there are two different calculations.
The upload (bandwidth used to transfer data to the cloud) and download (bandwidth used to transfer data from the cloud) are the same.
The image below shows the result of our speed test application on Microsoft’s Azure cloud in London.
Most of our customers store their data with Azure or Wasabi, and this application gives them a good idea of how long their first backup will take to upload.
Example:
19.71 Mbps is divided by 8 to give us a value of 2.46. If the connection speed remains consistent, we can upload 2.46 MB of data in one second.
How to increase the speed of your uploads
WinZip was a lifesaver twenty years ago. It could even span multiple floppies with one compressed file—magic!
Data compression is still significant today, and the default compression ratio we use at BOBcloud will compress your source data by approx—40%.
Compression is less for photos and videos and more for white-space databases.
Source selections are another great feature which allows you to decide which data you can back up. There is no need to back up an entire volume simply because it is easy.
This will mean backing up many system files and logs you don’t need, increasing the cost.
The bandwidth calculator will help you calculate how long your transfer will take.
Chunking is a tool we use under the covers. It chops your data into manageable chunks of 32MB, which is very effective when stored online.
Are you a speed king?
First, let’s calculate how fast your connection to the internet is by clicking on the image below.
This is a speed test to Microsoft’s UK cloud [Azure] in London.
Post your speed result when using this tool.
Results time
The test below was run on a PC using BT’s Fibre Broadband, and it’s no surprise that it has a healthy upload speed of 20Mbps. We say ‘speed ‘, but in reality, it is the size of the pipe or bandwidth. i.e., we can upload 19.71 megabits per second.
Divide that by eight, and you get megabytes per second.
Conclusion
If you want to calculate how much data you can transfer over your internet connection in one minute, do this:
1. Divide the speed test result by eight. This will convert megabits per second Mbps into megabytes MB.
2. Multiple MB by 60 to calculate how many MBs you can transfer in one minute.
If you have any questions or comments, enter them below.
calculate file transfer speed