Say you need to fill a gallon tank. If your garden hose puts out only 5 gallons of water per minute, you'll be waiting 20 minutes to fill the tank. But a huge firehose that puts out a gallon of water every second will fill the tank in less than two minutes. Bandwidth is like the size of the hose. The larger it is, the more data you can pull down in a given time. Bandwidth is measured in bits per second. Note that bits are different than bytes, the common measure of file size.
One byte equals 8 bits, so 1 megabyte MB equals 8 megabits. If you have a 1 megabit-per-second connection, a 1MB file will take eight seconds to download.
On a 1 Mbps connection, an MP3 file, which might measure about 6MB, will take about 48 seconds to download. A 5 gigabyte, or 5,MB, movie will take about 11 hours.
The bandwidth you're allotted is shared among all devices on your connection. How much you need depends on how you use the internet. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name.
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Now live: A fully responsive profile. Linked Related 0. Hot Network Questions. Question feed. For example; Netflix recommends a download speed of at least 1. The online gaming service OnLive requires at least 3 Mbps and recommends 5 Mbps, which makes it difficult or impossible to use a 2-Mbps connection.
While the connection speeds offered by broadband providers constantly increase, cable and DSL remain two of the most popular options. While DSL may sometimes be cheaper, cable usually has higher speed options and greater availability. Those deciding between 2 Mbps and 3 Mbps may find the question moot after investigating their DSL options, as DSL speeds can be limited by geography and, in some cases, slower than 1 Mbps. It's important when investigating the speed of a potential broadband connection to understand the difference between upload and download speeds.
Reducing the number of devices on your home network can help, as will closing as many tabs and programs as possible if gaming on a PC. If your network is often busy, upgrading to a higher speed broadband connection can decrease latency and give you an overall better gaming experience. See our latest gaming broadband deals. Netflix allows you to download films and TV shows to watch offline via the Netflix app. Within the Netflix app on your smartphone or tablet, simply tap on the download icon to save the episode or movie to your device.
The download speed will depend on the version you select. For example, the first episode of Stranger Things is If you want to know how fast your current broadband connection is, then take our quick Speed Test. This will give you a clearer idea of how long each of the files listed above will take to download in your home. Take a speed test.
Ensure there are no faulty connections or lose wires connecting your router to the broadband line. If your Wi-Fi signal is strong but your broadband speed is still slow, you might want to think about upgrading your current subscription. In order to understand download times, you need to understand the difference between bits and bytes, and how they impact your download speeds.
They both represent an amount of data, just different amounts of data. A bit is a binary digit of 1 or 0 and a byte is equal to eight bits. A bit is represented by a lowercase b and a byte with an uppercase B.
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