Internet words you should be familiar with

When considering installing internet in your home or office there are some words you should familiarize yourself with so you can make an informed decision. it’s always helpful to arm yourself with some handy definitions:

Bandwidth – Bandwidth measures the total number of frequencies, or capacity, a network connection can handle at any given moment. With more bandwidth, more data can be transferred through a specific network at a time. This is significant for determining how many devices can connect to the network at a time.

Broadband – Broadband tells you how quickly data can be transferred, which is your overall measurement for the speed of your internet connection. This is significant for determining the speed at which your internet can perform certain tasks, such as streaming a movie.

Bit – Internet speed is measured in bits per second (bps). This is the smallest unit of computer information, so you’ll often see internet speeds referred to as megabits per second (Mbps).

Byte – 1 byte is equal to 8 bits. We use bytes to refer to how much memory is available or being transferred.

Download – This tells you how quickly information from external sources is received by your router.

Latency – Latency measures the delay in data transfer, telling you how fast data gets from a source to its destination. Internet connection types vary considerably when it comes to latency. For instance, 100 Mbps with a fiber optic connection will have far fewer delays for tasks, such as Zoom meetings, than 100 Mbps with a satellite connection.

Mbps – “Megabits per second”in full is how we measure internet connection speeds. This represents the bandwidth of an internet connection in numbers, which basically means how much data the network is capable of transferring each second.

MBps – “Megabytes per second” measures the file size when talking about how much data can be transferred each second. You might also see this figure represented as MB.

Read more about the difference between Mbps and MBps

Modem – The modem is what connects the devices on your private network to external global networks.

Ping – A ping is a test which determines if a server is reachable. The test sends a data packet to the server to see if the data comes back.

Ping time – Measured in milliseconds, ping time tells you how fast a data packet travels to the server and back. If your connection doesn’t register the data request for a couple of seconds, you may see a lag in your connection.

Router – This piece of hardware is at the center of private internet networks. It facilitates all of the connections between devices and your network.

Upload – This tells you how quickly information from your network is sent to external networks.

Learn more about the difference between uploading and downloading

Wi-Fi – Wi-Fi offers a wireless internet connection, negating the need for devices to connect via hardware, such as an ethernet cable.