Throughput and bandwidth: understanding Internet packages

For beginners, the jargon used to describe Internet packages is confusing: speed, bandwidth, transfer capacity, high speed, etc. In this article, we demystify these terms.

The speed of your Internet package

The speed is the rate at which you can receive data. This data can be text, emails, images, sound, video … everything you see on the Internet!

To make an analogy, the speed is a little like your speed when you’re in a car: the higher it is, the faster you’ll reach your destination. The data is equivalent to the mileage traveled.

Your speed is limited by the maximum upload and download speeds of your Internet package. For example, if you have a 25 Mbps download connection, you will not be able to exceed this speed.
In general, a speed of 5 Mbit (megabit) per second is enough to listen to a movie in high definition without a hitch.

However, if you plan to listen to a movie in ultra-high definition or you are more than one to use your Internet connection, an Internet package with a minimum speed of 25 Mbit per second will be necessary.

In short:

• Bitrate is the speed of your Internet connection;
   

• It is calculated in MB per second;
   

• A single person can be content with 5 Mbit per second;
   

• A normal family needs at least 25 Mbit/s.

The transfer capacity of your Internet package

Every time you load a page, listen to a video on Youtube or make a video call with your computer, tablet or smartphone, you consume data.

Unless you have an unlimited Internet plan, you have the maximum amount of data you can consume: your transfer capacity. To pick up the car analogy, the transfer capacity, sometimes called bandwidth consumption, is the maximum mileage you can make with your vehicle during the month.

Unlike speed, Internet consumption is not calculated in MBit, but in MB and GB (for the curious, a MB = 8Mbit). In your contract, your consumption limit is indicated in GB (gigabyte), which is equivalent to 1024 MB.

Since most files and websites are smaller than a GB, you will be more often in contact with MB. The use of GB is mainly used to simplify the monitoring of your consumption: 50 GB on 75 GB is more than 51,200 MB on 76,800 MB!
In short:

• Your transfer capacity is the maximum amount of data you can use per month;
   

• It is calculated in GB;
   

• 1 GB = 1024 MB;
   

• 1 MB = 8 Mbit.

The use of Internet data

Video content consumes much more data than audio and photo content, especially when in high definition.

As an indication, here is an average of data consumed by activity:

Ne vous inquiétez pas, vous n’avez pas à tenir le compte vous-même ! La plupart des fournisseurs d’accès Internet vous offrent un système de suivi de la consommation de votre forfait Internet. Vous pouvez donc ajuster votre consommation en fonction de votre budget et de vos besoins.

En bref:

• Les contenus vidéo et audio consomment beaucoup plus de données qu’une page Web contenant seulement du texte et des images;
• Vous pouvez suivre votre consommation au fur et à mesure.

Vous devriez maintenant mieux comprendre les chiffres affichés dans les descriptions de forfaits Internet. Faites profiter ce nouveau savoir en consultant les diverses offres de forfaits internet de Cooptel!