The Importance of Bandwidth

Do you have enough Internet bandwidth to watch streaming videos, animations and multimedia? Do you have enough bandwidth to send out multiple streams of multimedia information?

Many Internet streaming media productions are geared to those with broadband connections. This includes cable modem, DSL, ISDN, satellite, any type of Internet connection where you can get a consistent connection of 300 Mbit/sec or better.

A basic dial-up connection using POTS (Plain Old Telephone) can theoretically achieve a rate of up to 56 Kbit/sec. However, in real world situations, POTS lines top out at about 45 to 50 Kbit/sec down and only 30 Kbit/s up. Depending on the type of compression of the movie, you can watch Internet videos and animations with that type of connection. In fact, we check many of our linked movies using 56K to confirm that they will run. 

If you are using a dial-up connection to access Internet vides, and it is your ONLY phone line, you might want to check out Internet Answering Machine from CallWave. It lets you surf the net, watch movies and videos, and also receive all your incoming phone calls. It is pretty cool. We use it.

If you don't have enough bandwidth, your videos may run poorly, start and stop, the images may be jerky or it might not run at all. Of course, if want to serve video (webcasting) instead of just watching it, you will need a lot more bandwidth. In fact, to serve out just a single stream of video to the Internet, we recommend a minimum of 128 Kbps. Most broadband cable and DSL connections provide around 300 Kpbs. A T1 connection provides around 1.5 Mbps.

Most computer modems and ISPs are using what is known as v.90 modems. However, a new standard is beginning to get popular, v.92. that boosts the upstream rate from 33.6 Kbps to 48 Kbps.

 V.92 also reduces the initial connection time  by remembering the previous settings negotiated when dialing the same telephone number. It also supports call waiting by allowing the data session to be put on hold while a voice call is taken. This means you can be on the Internet and also get your incoming voice phone calls.

We recommend a minimum of 128 Kbps to view video. 

The Many Flavors of DSL

There are various flavors of DSL (direct subscriber line). The two most commonly used for Internet access are ADSL and RADSL. 

ADSL
Its called Aysmetric it has one speed for download and another for upload. Because it uses higher frequencies than the voice band,  Asymmetric DSL can share the same line as the telephone However, a POTS splitter must be installed on the customer's premises to separate the line between voice and ADSL. A version of ADSL, known as G.lite, as well as Universal ADSL, ADSL Lite and/or splitterless ADSL, is geared to the consumer. It eliminates the splitter and associated installation charge, but all phones on the line must plug into low-pass filters to isolate them from the higher ADSL frequencies. This is what you get for do it yourself DSL installation.

RADSL
Rate Adaptive DSL is a type of ADSL that adjusts speeds based on signal quality. Many ADSL technologies are really RADSL.


VDSL (also VHDSL)
Very High Bit Rate DSL is an asymmetric version of DSL that is used as the final drop from a fiber optic junction point to nearby customers. VDSL lets an apartment or office complex obtain high-bandwidth services using existing copper wires without having to replace the infrastructure with optical fiber. Like ADSL, VDSL can share the line with the telephone.


HDSL
High Bit Rate DSL is a symmetric technology, which provides the same transmission rate in both directions. HDSL is the most mature DSL, because it has been used to provide T1 transmission over existing twisted pair without requiring the additional provisioning required for setting up T1 circuits. HDSL requires two cable pairs and goes up to 12,000 feet, while HDSL-2 requires only one cable pair and supports distances up to 18,000 feet. HDSL does not allow line sharing with analog phones.


SDSL
Symmetric DSL is an HDSL variation that uses only one cable pair and is offered in a wide range of speeds from 144 Kbps to 1.5 Mbps. SDSL is a rate adaptive technology, and like HDSL, SDSL cannot share lines with analog telephones.


IDSL
ISDN DSL offers a rather low speed (144 Kbps) in both directions compared to other symmetric versions, but it does provide 16 Kbps more than standard ISDN, because the 16 Kbps "D" channel is used for data rather than call setup. It also offers the longest distance of 26,000 feet. Unlike standard ISDN, IDSL does not support analog phones, and signals are not switched through the telephone network. Since IDSL uses the same 2B1Q line coding as ISDN, ISDN customers can use their existing equipment (ISDN BRI terminal adapters and routers) when connecting to IDSL.

MB -  (MegaByte) One million bytes (technically 1,048,576 bytes). As opposed to Mb for MegaBit.  One million bits (technically 1,048,576 bits). There are eight bits in every byte. Lower case "b" for bit and "B" for byte are not always followed and often confused. Thus, Mb may refer to megabyte.

Computer hardware storage is usually rated in bytes; for example, a 80-megabyte (80M or 80MB) disk holds 80 million characters of instructions and/or data. Four-megabytes (4M or 4MB) of RAM allows four million characters of instructions and data to be stored internally for processing.

Bits are widely used as a measurement for transmission. Twenty megabits per second (20 Mbit/s or 20 Mbps) means that twenty million pulses are transmitted per second. By the way, a 32-bit bus means that there are 32 wires transmitting the bit at the same time.

Baud is often confused with bit rates especially when applied to phones and modems - Baud is the signaling rate of a line, which is the number of transitions (voltage or frequency changes) that are made per second. 

 Unfortunately, baud is often wrongly used to specify bits per second. At very low speeds  baud is roughly equal to bps; for example, 300 baud is the same as 300 bps. Beyond that, one baud can represent more than one bit. For example, a V.22bis modem generates 1,200 bps at 600 baud.

Free Streaming Media Calculator
Download To Your Computer or Use The Online Calculator

Plan to stream your media over the Internet through a streaming media host? If so, you're probably looking for a service provider to host your media. Streaming media hosts usually charge based on required disk storage space. Knowing how large your media files will be, after you encode them, will help you estimate your costs.

Don't pay for more disk space than you need. Don't get charged extra because you ordered less space than you required.

All you need to know is the length of your media in minutes and seconds. (Example: 2 minutes, 25 seconds or 2:25) The calculator does the math for you and calculates your disk space requirements.