Bandwidth

In digital communication, bandwidth is the width of range or band of frequencies used by an electronic signal on a transmission medium. When used in this manner, bandwidth is expressed as the difference between the highest and lowest frequency signal component. Being that the frequency of a signal is measured in hertz, bandwidth may be determined as the difference in hertz between the highest and lowest frequency it uses. In regard to networks such as the internet, bandwidth is defined as a data transfer rate - the amount of data that is carried from one point to another. This type of bandwidth is often defined in bits but can also be expressed in Bps (bytes per second). Bandwidth often determines how much activity can take place on a website. This may include the downloading of images and documents or the streaming of audio and video. Generally, a link that contains a higher amount of bandwidth is able to sustain data at a much faster rate.