Am I right that 'Internet speed' is actually 'Bandwidth'?

wiganken · 2026-10-14T03:52:32-0400

The thread on 'Show off your internet speed' intrigues me. Broadband speed test results can be very high but is this achievable in actual daily usage? I believe that when it comes to the actual download speed achieved this depends on the upload speed of the site that you are downloading from?
Microsoft's Windows update, for example, has only so much bandwidth which has to be shared out amongst all people downloading at that time so it probably throttles the upload speed so the end user will get nowhere near their bandwidth capability.
Am I understanding this correctly?

Banjoman301 · 2026-10-14T03:59:56-0400

They are technically different.

A couple of good analogies I've seen posted elsewhere...

Bandwidth -

The Highway Analogy: Think of bandwidth as the number of lanes on a highway. More lanes (higher bandwidth) mean more cars (data packets) can travel side-by-side simultaneously. It sets the ceiling or upper limit of your network.

Speed -

The Highway Analogy: If bandwidth is the number of lanes, speed is how fast the cars are driving inside those lanes. [1, 2]

XxXxX · 2026-10-14T04:58:50-0400

this explains it very well 'internet speed vs bandwidth'

Internet Speed vs. Bandwidth: What's the Difference?

The terms “speed” and “bandwidth” are often used interchangeably, but they’re slightly different in meaning. Here's the breakdown.

www.highspeedinternet.com

best of luck Steve ..

jimbo45 · 2026-10-14T05:23:03-0400

Eng lang changes so much that even regular words mean different things to different people. I'm of an age where Gaslighting meant lighting gas lamps - but these days it means something totally not understandable to older people like me. !!!

Tech stuff in particular invents so many different words almost on a daily basis -- even SPAM which now has universal understanding was originally a tin of this stuff : !!!

Cheers
jimbo

dalchina · 2026-10-14T05:32:14-0400

For the internet:

Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted over a network or internet connection in a given amount of time, typically measured in bits per second (bps), megabits per second (Mbps), or gigabits per second (Gbps).

Bandwidth vs. Related Terms

Bandwidth vs. Speed: Bandwidth is the volume of data capacity you can receive or send per second, whereas speed is how fast that data travels from its source to your device.
Bandwidth vs. Latency: Latency (or "ping") is the time delay or lag you experience while waiting for data to load.
Bandwidth vs. Throughput: Throughput is the actual amount of data that successfully makes it to its destination after accounting for network congestion and lag.

For radio it's something else:
Radio & Telecommunications: The range of frequencies or width of a waveband used to transmit signals over distance.

And one view could be:
Bandwidth: The capacity or width of the "pipe" (like the number of lanes on a highway) determining how many devices or data streams can fit at once.

But better to consider bandwidth vs speed as volume vs rate

wiganken · 2026-10-14T05:33:24-0400

Banjoman301 said:
speed is how fast the cars are driving inside those lanes

Okay, but does the website upload speed (may be throttled?) or your download speed limit determine the actual download speed you get?

wiganken · 2026-10-14T05:35:35-0400

dalchina said:
whereas speed is how fast that data travels from its source to your device.

Does the source control that speed?

kelper · 2026-10-14T05:38:51-0400

I agree with OP. I reckon that low upload speed can affect download speed. Perhaps this is due to error checking by the source? It anyone is able to cap only their upload speed, this would be an interesting experiment.

Bandwidth is the maximum data rate a connection can support under specified conditions.
Speed is the term commonly used by internet providers for the data rate you actually achieve.

The analogy with traffic is a poor one. If the cars on a motorway are all doing 70mph, doubling the bandwidth doubles the number of cars passing per hour.

Fabler2 · 2026-10-14T05:54:35-0400

wiganken said:
Does the source control that speed?

Yes. Check either the onlne Ookla speed tester or the app and test the download speed from different servers. The ISP limits the max download speed. (Bandwidth)

spapakons · 2026-10-14T06:11:15-0400

wiganken said:
Okay, but does the website upload speed (may be throttled?) or your download speed limit determine the actual download speed you get?

Yes, not all sites have the same upload speeds. In some sites I can download gigabytes in a couple of minutes or less (my speed is 260MBps). In other sites it takes longer. Also it depends on when you download something. In rush hours when most users download at once the speed would be divided among more computers and be lower. In other hours you could achieve better speeds.

spapakons · 2026-10-14T06:14:06-0400

wiganken said:
Does the source control that speed?

In most sites that upload files to download, no, but it is possible. I believe that sites with free and paid versions of applications the free are bandwidth limited while the paid versions download faster. They might even be on a different server.

dalchina · 2026-10-14T06:40:29-0400

Consider too that the rated speed is basically a contractual commitment from the ISP. It may well be a lot less than the potential maximum speed available from your connection - i.e. depends what you pay for.

The actual speed of transfer you might experience from any particular server or source will not be more than that rated speed of course, and can often be less, being restricted by various factors.

spapakons · 2026-10-14T07:01:51-0400

kelper said:
I agree with OP. I reckon that low upload speed can affect download speed. Perhaps this is due to error checking by the source? It anyone is able to cap only their upload speed, this would be an interesting experiment.

Bandwidth is the maximum data rate a connection can support under specified conditions.
Speed is the term commonly used by internet providers for the data rate you actually achieve.

The analogy with traffic is a poor one. If the cars on a motorway are all doing 70mph, doubling the bandwidth doubles the number of cars passing per hour.

In highway analogy, the speed limit is 120km per hour. Some idiots drive at 60Km per hour on the fast lane causing a bottleneck. However, assuming every car runs at the speed limit, the only delays are traffic lights, if any, tolls etc.

Similarly if every computer downloads at the maximum speed it can for its connection, and there are few computers currently connected at the server, the download speed will be fast. If there are many computers connected (rush hour) the download speed will be slower. Similarly if at the same home more than one device is downloading at the same time or watching streaming video. The more users the lower the speed.

Am I right that 'Internet speed' is actually 'Bandwidth'?

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