Considerations for Calculating Bandwidth

Several bandwidth calculations have become more sophisticated as a result of technical improvements, and they can vary according to the network link type used. A fiber-optic connection has a much higher bandwidth than a copper Ethernet alternative. This is due to fiber optics utilizing a wide variety of light waves, using time-division multiplexing, and relying on light waves of multiple wavelengths.

As part of the federal telecommunications and information administration’s negotiations with the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the federal government is defining the bandwidth of mobile data networks like Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G as a spectrum that the federal government can license to mobile operators for use in the United States. Using this spectrum requires a license, which is only available to the appropriate company. Wireless technology can then be used to transport data over that spectrum, maximizing the bandwidth of the hardware.

While Wi-Fi does not require a license, it is a disruptive technology. You can set up a wireless network with any Wi-Fi access point (AP) or Wi-Fi router. The spectrum may not be available at all times, which is a constraint. As a result, Wi-Fi bandwidth can suffer when other Wi-Fi APs try to use some or all of the same frequencies.

A bandwidth test can be used to assess effective bandwidth, which is the highest reliable transmission rate a link on any particular transport technology can provide. During a bandwidth test, the time it takes for a given file to leave its point of origin and successfully download at its destination is used to estimate the link’s capacity.

Following a review of network bandwidth usage, determine where apps and data are stored and calculate the average bandwidth requirements for each user and session.

Follow these four steps to figure out how much bandwidth a network uplink or internet broadband requires:

• Select the program that will be used.
• Determine each application’s bandwidth requirements.
• Multiply each application’s application needs by the number of expected concurrent users.
• Add up all of the application bandwidth numbers.

The same procedure can be applied to determining bandwidth requirements for public or private clouds connected to the internet or via WAN lines. When compared to WAN or DIA connections, however, available bandwidth over a local area network or wireless LAN is frequently far higher. As a result, it’s critical to accurately estimate bandwidth requirements and track connection consumption over time. Monitoring bandwidth utilization over the course of a day, week, month, or year can help network engineers determine whether a WAN/DIA link is sufficient — or whether a capacity expansion is necessary.

Applications and services operate poorly when a network’s bandwidth is insufficient.

Pre-Requisite: Introduction to Bandwidth

Network bandwidth is the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to deliver data via a network connection in a given amount of time. Bandwidth is typically defined as the number of bits, kilobits, megabits, or gigabits that may be sent in one second. 

Bandwidth and capacity are terms that are used interchangeably to describe the pace at which data is delivered. It is a common misconception that bandwidth is a measure of network speed. Throughput is what bandwidth is all about. Bandwidth in networks refers to how much digital data we can send or receive through a link in a given length of time. It’s also referred to as the data transfer rate. The majority of the time, bandwidth refers to maximum throughput, and the amount of data transferred is measured in bits per second. A bit is the smallest unit of digital data, and it is represented by a 1 or 0.

We might use terms like kilobits per second (Kbps or 1,000 bits per second) or megabits per second (Mbps or 1,000,000 bits per second) to describe how many bits can be delivered or received in a second because the number of bits might be rather enormous. A typical internet speed is around 10Mbps (megabits per second), which equates to roughly 1.3MBps (megabytes per second). By the way, if you’re curious about how 10Mbps translates to 1.3MBps, simply divide by 8, which is the number of bits in each byte.