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How to ensure you have enough bandwidth
What is bandwidth?
Bandwidth, quite simply, is the amount of internet traffic, data, or information that can be sent between one location and another within any given period of time. Bandwidth, usually measured in seconds, is basically the speed of your computer. High speed internet or cable modems have more bandwidth than dial-up connections. This is why dial-up is so slow, comparatively; it cannot handle a great deal of information at once. So downloading something like a video would take much longer than it would with a connection that has more bandwidth, because dial-up only allows a small amount of data to transfer through each second.
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How much bandwidth do I need?
When you sign up for internet service with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), you will have a variety of options with regards of how much bandwidth you're paying for. The Internet itself is comprised of millions of computers connected by cables. An ISP will have an exceptionally high-speed connection and will in turn make its own money by providing (for a monthly fee) pieces of the high speed connection to its customers.
Knowing how much bandwidth you will need for your business is difficult to tell unless you have been up and running for awhile. As a general rule, most small business websites won't need more than 1GB of bandwidth per month. Keep in mind that this is a general rule. However, you should also know that if you go over your allocated amount of bandwidth each month, your ISP will charge you over-usage fees, which can be quite expensive.
If you don't have enough bandwidth, your pages won't load as quickly, if they even load at all. Slower connections won't be able to support large numbers of visitors, either, nor will they be able to support larger applications.
To determine how much bandwidth you need, you must take into account:
- Estimated number of users accessing your site each day.
- The number of pages in your site.
- The size or amount of graphics, FLASH players, and HTML files
Once you have a general idea of these numbers, then multiply the size of your average HTML page by the number of pages in your site. Then multiply that by the number of visitors you expect to have in a month.
How can I ensure I have enough bandwidth?
If you follow the above formula, you should have enough bandwidth. Determining whether you have enough, however, will most likely occur after you've had your site up and running for awhile. If people are complaining of slow internet speeds, then you may need more bandwidth. Or, if you are being charged for over usage fees, then you definitely need more bandwidth.
The best thing you can do is talk to experts in the field or your ISP to help you ensure you will have enough bandwidth for your website. You should also know how much it will cost to upgrade, if you end up needing to do that. You may get a good deal initially on your internet, but then find that it will be significantly more expensive to upgrade than to just go with the larger package to begin with. It helps to shop around and ask questions.
Your website is an important part of your business. To ensure you have enough bandwidth, the simple formula above will help you.
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