There’s a lot of jargon in the tech world. Sometimes, you may understand these terms on their face, but their nuances in relation to technology takes a bit of deeper understanding. Luckily, DevSpeak is here to have your back.

You’ve probably frequently heard terms like “bandwidth,” “throughput,” and “network speed,” especially when discussing internet connections. But what do these terms really mean, and how do they impact your online experience? For those new to tech, understanding these concepts can be confusing. People regularly lament, “but I have a fast connection!”, in response to data speed problems… but the speed of your connection is only one factor in determining data transfer speed and efficiency.

In today’s DevSpeak, we’ll dive into these terms so you can confidently understand what each does and doesn’t mean. Use this knowledge wisely to understand your digital connections better… and to not put your foot in your mouth the next time you’re having a casual conversation with a developer.

Bandwidth, Throughput, and Network Speed, Defined

Let’s grab a very basic analogy here and hold it close as we explore these terms. Think of your internet connection as a highway. There’s lots of data packets trying to get through on the highway both ways.

• Bandwidth: Think of this as the highway itself. Bandwidth is the total width of the road—the number of lanes available for cars (data) to travel on. The more lanes you have, the more cars can travel at the same time. In technical terms, bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over a network in a given amount of time, usually measured in megabits per second (Mbps). Just because you have a solid maximum bandwidth, however, doesn’t mean you’ll always transmit data at those speeds… highways have other things that slow down traffic.
  
• Throughput: Now, consider the traffic on the highway. Throughput is the number of cars that successfully reach their destination per unit of time. Even if you have a wide highway (high bandwidth), the actual traffic (throughput) might be lower due to various factors like road conditions or accidents. In network terms, throughput is the actual amount of data that gets successfully transmitted from one point to another over a given period of time.
• Network Speed: Finally, network speed is the time it takes for a car to travel from point A to point B. It’s influenced by both bandwidth and throughput, but also by the car’s speed (latency). If the road is clear and cars are moving fast, data reaches its destination quickly. Network speed is often what people refer to when they talk about how “fast” their internet connection is, though it’s really a combination of several factors.

Different Metrics for Different Network Capabilities

These three terms — bandwidth, throughput, and network speed — each describe different aspects of your internet connection’s performance:

• Bandwidth determines the potential maximum capacity of your connection. Think of it as the upper limit.
• Throughput shows how much of that potential is being used effectively, giving you a realistic measure of your current connection.
• Network speed impacts your experience of using the internet, like how fast pages load or how quickly you can stream videos.

To continue with our highway analogy, you could have a wide road (high bandwidth) but still experience slow traffic (low throughput) due to construction work or traffic jams. Similarly, even with good traffic flow (high throughput), if your cars (data packets) aren’t moving fast enough due to speed limits (latency), you’ll feel that your network is slow.

Let’s step outside of our analogy for a minute here. Keep in mind that data transfer is a 2-way issue. While you may be sending data packets efficiently and quickly, perhaps the other side of that connection is experiencing difficulties. Maybe a data center in between the two endpoints is congested. It’s a big internet, and it takes two to tango.

Not All Connection Problems Are Equal

Understanding these distinctions helps explain why sometimes your internet feels slow even if you have a high-speed plan. For instance:

• Congestion: Just like rush hour on a highway, too many users online at the same time can lead to lower throughput, even if you have high bandwidth. Try connecting to two games, spinning up several YouTube videos and opening 42 tabs on Chrome to experience this limiting situation.
  
• Latency: If your data takes a long time to travel across the network, it doesn’t matter how much bandwidth you have—your experience will still feel sluggish. Often this can be because of how far data is traveling, or how many stops in between. A ping test to the address you’re transmitting to can give you a good idea here. Ping is measured in ms, and tells you how long a signal takes to go to the other side and come back to you.
  
• Packet Loss: Imagine some cars not reaching their destination at all due to accidents. In networking, this is called packet loss, and it can drastically reduce throughput. This one can be tougher to isolate into one experience… but trying to connect on bad wifi is usually a pretty good parallel. Try sitting with your laptop outside with a yard sprinkler between yourself and your wifi router. Those water droplets are each scattering part of your data stream, leading to lost packets that never make it to your laptop or to their destination.

When troubleshooting a slow internet connection, it’s important to consider all three factors—bandwidth, throughput, and network speed. The problem is usually a combination of them, but rarely in equal proportions. Deal with the biggest issue first, then reassess the situation.

Knowledge Transmitted

Understanding the differences between bandwidth, throughput, and network speed can help you make informed decisions about your internet service and troubleshoot connection issues more effectively. Remember, a wide highway (bandwidth) doesn’t always guarantee smooth traffic (throughput), and how fast you can get from point A to point B (network speed) depends on several factors working together. Once you grasp, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the digital highway with confidence.

Hopefully this DevSpeak showed you how to more confidently conversate about these networking topics and also gave you some practical knowledge about connection problems that we all face from time to time in our digital lives.

Even if you’re not the most techy person in the world, these are important concepts that everyone should know at least a little about. We’ll be back again soon with another DevSpeak to bring you more clarity to the confusing terms tossed around tech!