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 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:
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:
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:
Photos in high definition | 5 to 15 MB per photo |
Streaming Radio and Music | Up to 120 MB per hour |
Web page without audio or video content | About 3 MB per page |
A film in medium quality (480p) | 0.7 GB per hour (according to Netflix) |
Un film en Haute-définition (1080p) | 3 Go par heure (selon Netflix) |
Un film en Ultra Haute-définition (4k) | 7 Go par heure (selon Netflix) |
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:
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!