The internet plays a big role in your business- from website usage, to uploading video content to blogging. The best way to secure reliable high-speed internet for your business involves bandwidth.
Bandwidth is defined as the ability to transfer data (such as a VoIP telephone call) from one point to another in a fixed amount of time. The higher the bandwidth speed you have, the more data you can send over your Broadband Internet connection. For a business, the importance of a fast internet connection and the role of enough bandwidth, is just as (or for some even more so) important as the telephone system. Any modern business requires high speed internet to function effectively, and bandwidth is what makes all this possible.
So How Much is Enough?
Well that’s the million pound question and only one that you can really answer. You want enough bandwidth to cover your needs,
One of the first things you should do when determining what you need, is to figure out where you are today. The best way to determine your bandwidth, is to run a throughput test using a site like http://www.speedtest.net. This will give you a basic idea of your current functional bandwidth, but it is important to note that this can vary as it all depends on exactly which applications you have running at any given time. This test also provides variable results depending on the location used for testing.
It is worth noting that your upload speed is often slower than your download speed, so make sure that the lower number of the upload speed matches what you need.
Here’s what to do:
- Determine how many people will use your internet at the same time.
- Factor in what they will be doing.
- Calculate the bandwidth needed per task.
- Total up the bandwidth you need for all tasks happening at the same time.
| Description | How Many People | Traffic Estimate | Bandwidth Needed |
| Example: Email | 5 | 1.15 MB | 5.75 Mbps |
| Backup | 2 Mbps | ||
| Cloud services | 1.5 Mbps | ||
| Email no attachment | 1Mbps | ||
| Email with attachment | 1.15 Mbps | ||
| File sharing | 0.5 Mbps | ||
| Messaging | 0.5 Mbps | ||
| Online banking | 0.2 Mbps | ||
| Online research | 0.33Mbps | ||
| Social media | 0.2 Mbps | ||
| Streaming webinar | 1.5 Mbps | ||
| Wi-FI | 1 Mbps | ||
| Uploading photos | 1.5 Mbps | ||
| Uploading large files | 2 Mbps | ||
| Video conferencing | 4 Mbps | ||
| VoIP calls | 0.01 Mbps | ||
| VoIP video calls | 1.28 Mbps | ||
| Web browsing | 0.33 Mbps |
We hope the above information was useful for you, if you would like any more help or advice on how much Bandwidth is enough for your your business, please give us a call on 0800 505 3350 or drop us a contact form and we will be happy to discuss this with you. Alternatively, you can visit out Internet Services page for more information.
