Broadband speeds explained

We all know that when it comes to broadband it needs to be quick and reliable, but when it comes to speed, not many people really understand it in context.

How much data you can download in one second is down to your bandwidth which is measured in megabytes per second. That sounds easy enough, but how do you know how much bandwidth is enough for what you want to do?

In the early days of the internet back in the late 1990s, bandwidth was measured in kilobytes and we could only achieve a speed of 56 kilobytes per second. The internet was painfully slow back then and it’s a good job video sharing wasn’t a thing as it would’ve taken roughly 3 and a half days to download a video!

Next came 4 megabytes per second and that same video would have taken just over 1 hour to download.

Fast forward to 16 megabytes per second and that’s enough for a couple of users to surf the web and shop online. The video now takes just under 20 minutes to download.

With the advent of fibre broadband, speeds of 50 megabytes per second became available and that really changed the way we used the internet. Streaming and gaming from multiply users at the same time is possible and that video now takes around 5 minutes to download.

Some fibre broadbands can now offer download speeds of 1 gigabit per second which means the video that once would’ve taken days to download is available in just under 20 seconds.

There are of course other factors that affect your broadband speed, such as the type of connection you have but as the fibre broadband roll out continues to reach more rural areas, fast broadband should soon be available to everyone.

The wonders of the internet can be complex and amazing at the same time, but don’t feel daunted by it. If you’re looking for IT services Birmingham, or are shopping around for a better broadband for your business, reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help.