Monday, March 30, 2015

"Bandwidth Doesn't Matter Much"

There are lots of reasons why Internet access headline speed and actual end user experience vary so widely, and why, for a typical user, higher speeds (capacity) do not translate into enhanced experience.

In fact, some would argue that more bandwidth doesn't matter much.  

The amount of resource sharing can be affected by headline speed, as when multiple users share a single access connection, either at work, home or a public hotspot.  

Ofcom, the U.K. communications regulator, has found that, for any single user, speeds below 5 Mbps do affect end user experience, on the local access link. Speeds above 10 Mbps, however, have negligible or no impact on end user experience.

The caveat is that experience can benefit if a single connection is widely shared.

On the other hand, one might well argue that latency is the bigger problem for most users, accessing most applications, most of the time. That means better latency performance is an important objective for ISPs and app providers.  


The larger point is that headline speeds mostly are about marketing platforms, not end user experience, once per-user local connection capabilities reach 10 Mbps per user.

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