Everything You Need to Know About Internet
With everyone working remotely and using more internet these days, it is important to understand everything about internet technology and speeds. If your internet speed is too slow, you might run into trouble performing tasks on the web like streaming video, playing video games or uploading files.
Internet Terms:
- Bandwidth – Bandwidth measures the total number of frequencies, or capacity, a network connection can handle at any given moment. The higher the bandwidth, the faster your internet speed.
- Broadband – Broadband basically tells you how fast your internet connection is.
- 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).
- Download – This tells you how quickly information from external sources is received by your router.
- Mbps – “Megabits per second” is how we gauge internet speeds. This number represents the bandwidth of an internet connection, which is how much data can be transferred 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Streaming, Gaming, and Working from Home
To stream videos, you’ll need at least 3 Mbps. It takes at least 25 Mbps for 4K streaming on your computer or Ultra HD-enabled devices, and some streaming services suggest faster speeds. For gaming, you will need 4-8 Mbps, and for the best results 10–25 Mbps are recommended. When it comes to working from home, if you frequently download and upload large files, you’ll want internet speeds of at least 40 Mbps. For simpler computer programs, you can get by with just 3–4 Mbps, but for video conferencing, you will want to sit somewhere in the middle with at least 10 Mbps.
