TYPES OF BANDWIDTHS -YOU NEED TO KNOW

Bandwidth is defined as the highest amount of data that can transfer from one network to another in a specific period of time. This is expressed as (Mbps). Bandwidth plays an important role in determining the quality and speed of an internet connection, or network. There are also WIFI bandwidth control software available 1n the market.

The modern business networks are complex, digital and distributed.  We’ll take a look at the types of services available and their different bandwidths.

THE TYPES BANDWIDTH

There are several classes of service available for business communications. Each class offers a range of services. Based on factors like latency, bandwidth and throughput, some classes are more suitable for certain applications in business than others. The primary categories are Public Wireless, Public Broadband, Private Networks and hybrid Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN). We’ve compiled a summary chart that compares the various options for service including bandwidth, cost, as well as a few other options to help you determine what kind of bandwidth is appropriate for your company.

PUBLIC WI-FI

Long term Evolution (LTE) cell phone service, sometimes referred to as 4G and satellite, tend to be more costly than terrestrial providers that offer comparable bandwidth. They might provide the sole option for areas where cable providers aren’t able to reach through Internet services and current copper phone lines twisted pair cannot keep up with demand for data. Both satellite and 4G/LTE provide shared service. They are offered in bundles of up to 100Mbps bandwidth typically with data caps, beyond which the costs can rise substantially. The issue of high latency can be a problem especially with satellite connections.

The most recent generation of wireless for public use 5G is only available in certain regions. Be on the lookout for announcements on this game-changing technology. If some promises of 5G are brought to fruition, it could prove to be an effective alternative for WANs in business.

PUBLIC BROADBAND

“Broadband” is colloquial term that means wide bandwidth. The fast Internet connections are offered via either telephone or cable companies. Broadband Internet uses multiple data channels to transfer huge amounts of data. Most popular broadband options include the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) as well as cable, and fiber. Bandwidth options differ, based on the provider of service as well as the type of service, with DSL at the lower range (up at 40 Mbps) while cable is at middle (up to 300 Mbps) and fiber at the highest (up up to 10 Gbps). DSL and cable are typically not symmetrical in that upload speeds come much lower than download speeds.

The major advantage of broadband is its relatively low cost for high-speed internet. The trade-offs are safety and security. A single broadband connection is susceptible to issues with quality and even interruptions. If broadband quality is poor, Voice over IP (VoIP) calls stop working and the The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) ceases to function and this is not acceptable to many users in the business sector. However, businesses may be okay with frequent or minimal interruptions due to the affordable cost for the services.

More and more, companies are using multiple broadband connections using SD-WAN technology within hybrid networks to improve the highest efficiency and dependability. Further details on that to come.

PRIVATE NETWORK

The name implies that private networks aren’t shared. They are offered by companies as business-grade services that come with Service Level Agreements (SLA) which contain Quality of Service (QoS) clauses. Due to this, contracts are higher in cost than best efforts public broadband services and also have long contract terms.

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a method of data transfer to provide high-performance private telecom networks. It makes use of encapsulated data, and is isolated from public Internet to provide an encrypted mode of transport. MPLS utilizes a variety of access methods, generally using the T1 (1.54 Mbps) at the lower end, and fiber or Metro Ethernet (upto 10 Gbps) at the top end.

Prior to the introduction of broadband and SD-WAN technologies, MPLS was the best option to ensure connectivity point-to point and high-quality network performance for live-time applications such as video conferencing and VoIP. Similar to any of the services listed one MPLS connection is susceptible to failures.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED WIDE AREA NETWORKS (SD-WAN)

Certain SD-WAN technology makes it possible to mix all services from any company to create a reliable public/private network. There are many advantages when you have two or more connections with the Internet.

• Resiliency and protection from carrier outages. SD-WAN networks that have two or more different connections are able to automatically failover links or to replicate data across multiple connections. If one connection goes down because of a construction accident or issue with the carrier, data continues to flow through the intact link with no loss of data, and there is no interruption in service.
• Security and compliance. Businesses operating in areas that are regulated may benefit from a safe network that offers reliable video, data and voice services, without paying in MPLS or multiple T1 connection. Making use of a number of cheaper public broadband links and using SD-WAN features like encryption and data encapsulation as well as a stateful Layer-4 firewall VPN and packet duplication as well as failover and other QoS features will provide top security and reliability at reasonable prices.

If you are looking for bandwidth management software for your company you can approach Xceednet.