Bandwidth Calculator
Bandwidth basically means the amount of data transferred from one point to another over a given period of time. A bandwidth calculator, in general calculates the bandwidth consumed for using the web. It includes surfing, downloading photos, music, software, photos or any other. Bandwidth calculators are designed for different purposes. Some bandwidth calculators allow users to enter data size, format type or duration while some others help you monitor and plan the bandwidth usage accordingly. Some also helps you calculate the connection size when you need to transfer a file during a given period.
The bandwidth calculator given here calculates bandwidth usage when a value is entered. Here, value represents hours of using the web, number of emails sent or received or number of downloads etc.
Advantages of bandwidth calculator
- Simple to calculate bandwidth usage for a particular online activity
- Helps user refine his broadband use based on the bandwidth consumed
- Easy to make comparison between different online activities
- Useful for those who are keen in using the broadband allowance effectively
Disadvantages of bandwidth calculator
- Would mislead a user if the calculations are not correct, if not accurate
How to use the bandwidth calculator?
Broadband users can get to know of the monthly bandwidth usage by entering data in the boxes against each statement. Users are advised to enter details in about nine fields in order to know how much bandwidth they have used. The details include number of hours spent in surfing the web, number of mails sent or received without attachment(s), number of high quality photos sent/ received, number of low quality photos sent/ received, number of large software downloads, number of small software downloads, number of music tracks downloaded, number of short videos watched and number of hours listening to online radio. This calculator calculates the bandwidth and displays the result (in MB) in a box opposite to the previous one where you have entered the number of online activities done. Finally, it displays the total bandwidth used in MB by summing up all the individual figures. Total bandwidth used in GB is also calculated by dividing the total bandwidth used in MB by 1024 (1GB = 1024MB). Pressing on 'Reset' button returns all the fields to blank for the next new set of values. It is to be noted that the results displayed are just approximate values and not exact figures.
Comparison of bandwidth usage for different online activities
Comparing the usage of bandwidth for different online activities helps the user plan on using the bandwidth effectively. Based on the bandwidth usage the following details have been collected.
- One is likely to use the same bandwidth when he spends his time surfing the web or listening to online radio.
- Bandwidth consumed for sending or receiving high quality photos is nearly 10 times than that of sending or receiving low quality photos.
- Downloading of small and large software makes a vast difference as downloading large software is about 50 times more than that of downloading small software.
- It takes almost the same bandwidth to download music tracks and watch short video clips.
- Sending or receiving high quality photos or downloading small software takes almost the same bandwidth.
- Last but not the least, bandwidth used to send or receive emails without attachment(s) takes the lowest bandwidth.