Bits and Bytes
By: Darren Chu
It's no secret that many Canadians who are signed up for Internet services with the "big guys" are overpaying. But how would you know, and what do you need to know to make an informed decision?
Spot Power was founded to provide consumers with choice in Alberta’s utility market. With the introduction of Internet services, this now extends into the telecommunications market. Our goal is to provide our customers with the Internet plan that will work best for them so they aren’t paying for more speed than they really need.
Plus, customers who bundle Internet services with our electricity and/or natural gas offering can save even more! Get 6 months of electricity and/or natural gas administration fees free when you bundle with Internet.
Read on to find out more about Internet speeds, bandwidth, and how to understand what you're buying. Additional information can also be found on our “Understanding Internet Speeds” page.
Take an email, for instance. The information is disassembled and divided into small bundles of data called “packets”, which are then sent to the recipient's address, where they are reassembled in the same order. This is not unlike receiving a shipment in pieces from different manufacturers. If the delivery trucks get stuck in single-file traffic on a back-road, this is low bandwidth. If the delivery trucks all take a major highway, can drive side-by-side, and get there really fast, that's high bandwidth.
Bandwidth is measured in megabits per second, or Mbps, which is just another way of saying how much data is transferred per second. You probably already know that computers use a language called the binary numeral system (binary for short), named because it uses only zeroes and ones. Each zero or one that is used is 1 bit.
When you put 8 bits together, you get a byte. We're used to dealing with bytes, often in the form of megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). Mathematically-speaking, 1 megabyte is equal to 8 million bits, and 1 gigabyte is equivalent to 8 billion bits. That's nice and all, but what does this really mean for you as a consumer? I'm glad you asked!
Suppose you want to download a video file that is 800 megabytes. With a steady Internet speed of 75 megabits per second, you could reasonably expect the video to download in about 85 seconds. That may not sound like much, but that's assuming a steady speed, and no other devices using the Internet simultaneously.
(If you want to do this calculation for any other file, just divide your Internet speed by 8 to convert your speed to megabytes per second. Then take your file -in megabytes- and divide it by the value you just calculated to get an answer in seconds.)
Internet speeds are also marketed as if they will provide you with that exact speed all the time. This isn't necessarily true. Those speeds represent the maximum bandwidth, which is the maximum possible speed that you will get. It is more likely that you will see your actual speed fluctuate throughout the day. This is especially important for cable Internet, where your speed will suffer from what is called neighbourhood slow-down during peak usage times (typically between 5 and 9 pm). This occurs because all users in a neighbourhood are connected to a single neighbourhood line, which can cause congestion.
Most people are only concerned with download speed because that's the bulk of what we do on the Internet (streaming music and video, browsing the web, online gaming), but it's also important to consider the upload speed. Any time you send an email, upload files to your Google Drive or put anything on the web, you are using the upload stream.
The first question is for your ISP: what speeds are they offering, and how varied are they? If their lowest speed is 300 Mbps, it is likely overkill and probably more expensive than what you want to pay.
The second question is, how many devices will be using the Internet simultaneously? By devices, we mean smartphones/tablets, computers, streaming boxes, or smart TVs. It's only around 3 devices that are all streaming 4K content at the same time that you really need anything over 100 Mbps.
The last question is, what do you use the Internet for? For almost all activities, except gaming and streaming, the bandwidth your device requires is actually quite low. Estimates vary but surfing social media apps such as Instagram or Twitter use as little as 3 to 5 Mbps. On the other hand, streaming can use anything from 0.5 Mbps to as much as 25 Mbps, depending on the service and resolution.
You're probably realizing that, like most Canadians, you have been oversold on speed and are likely paying more than you need to for Internet service. That's where Spot Power comes in. No matter what type of internet user you are, a bathroom browser, a gamer, a streamer, or a casual browser, we have unlimited plans at affordable prices that are perfect for your needs.
Sign up for one of our unlimited plans and say goodbye to excessive Internet bills. Bundle with electricity and/or natural gas and get 6 months of energy administration fees, free! Still not sure what plan is right for you? Contact us and one of our local team members will help you out!
Spot Power was founded to provide consumers with choice in Alberta’s utility market. With the introduction of Internet services, this now extends into the telecommunications market. Our goal is to provide our customers with the Internet plan that will work best for them so they aren’t paying for more speed than they really need.
Plus, customers who bundle Internet services with our electricity and/or natural gas offering can save even more! Get 6 months of electricity and/or natural gas administration fees free when you bundle with Internet.
Read on to find out more about Internet speeds, bandwidth, and how to understand what you're buying. Additional information can also be found on our “Understanding Internet Speeds” page.
The Digital Highway
In a lot of ways, the Internet is laid out just like the real world. There are country-specific domains like .ca or .uk, our computers have IP addresses that function like mailing addresses, and information takes digital highways to get to where it needs to go. These roadways can be compared to the bandwidth that connects you to the Internet; the wider the road, the faster you go.Take an email, for instance. The information is disassembled and divided into small bundles of data called “packets”, which are then sent to the recipient's address, where they are reassembled in the same order. This is not unlike receiving a shipment in pieces from different manufacturers. If the delivery trucks get stuck in single-file traffic on a back-road, this is low bandwidth. If the delivery trucks all take a major highway, can drive side-by-side, and get there really fast, that's high bandwidth.
Bandwidth is measured in megabits per second, or Mbps, which is just another way of saying how much data is transferred per second. You probably already know that computers use a language called the binary numeral system (binary for short), named because it uses only zeroes and ones. Each zero or one that is used is 1 bit.
When you put 8 bits together, you get a byte. We're used to dealing with bytes, often in the form of megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). Mathematically-speaking, 1 megabyte is equal to 8 million bits, and 1 gigabyte is equivalent to 8 billion bits. That's nice and all, but what does this really mean for you as a consumer? I'm glad you asked!
Mega-Whats per Second?
Your Internet speed is also measured in megabits per second and is often just listed as a number like 75, 100, 300, etc. Internet service providers (ISPs) will advertise their Internet plans using these values. Spot Power's most popular plan is Internet 75, but what does something like 75 megabits per second really mean?Suppose you want to download a video file that is 800 megabytes. With a steady Internet speed of 75 megabits per second, you could reasonably expect the video to download in about 85 seconds. That may not sound like much, but that's assuming a steady speed, and no other devices using the Internet simultaneously.
Internet speeds are also marketed as if they will provide you with that exact speed all the time. This isn't necessarily true. Those speeds represent the maximum bandwidth, which is the maximum possible speed that you will get. It is more likely that you will see your actual speed fluctuate throughout the day. This is especially important for cable Internet, where your speed will suffer from what is called neighbourhood slow-down during peak usage times (typically between 5 and 9 pm). This occurs because all users in a neighbourhood are connected to a single neighbourhood line, which can cause congestion.
Going Up!
So far, we've only been talking about download speeds. When you sign up for an Internet plan, you also get a set upload speed. Download and upload speeds are both measured in megabits per second, but your upload speed will typically be much lower. This is called asymmetrical data transfer. Some, but not all, providers have symmetrical speeds.Most people are only concerned with download speed because that's the bulk of what we do on the Internet (streaming music and video, browsing the web, online gaming), but it's also important to consider the upload speed. Any time you send an email, upload files to your Google Drive or put anything on the web, you are using the upload stream.
Less is More
Now that you understand how bandwidth is measured and what it means, you're probably wondering what to do with that knowledge. Here are three questions you should be asking.The first question is for your ISP: what speeds are they offering, and how varied are they? If their lowest speed is 300 Mbps, it is likely overkill and probably more expensive than what you want to pay.
The second question is, how many devices will be using the Internet simultaneously? By devices, we mean smartphones/tablets, computers, streaming boxes, or smart TVs. It's only around 3 devices that are all streaming 4K content at the same time that you really need anything over 100 Mbps.
You're probably realizing that, like most Canadians, you have been oversold on speed and are likely paying more than you need to for Internet service. That's where Spot Power comes in. No matter what type of internet user you are, a bathroom browser, a gamer, a streamer, or a casual browser, we have unlimited plans at affordable prices that are perfect for your needs.
Sign up for one of our unlimited plans and say goodbye to excessive Internet bills. Bundle with electricity and/or natural gas and get 6 months of energy administration fees, free! Still not sure what plan is right for you? Contact us and one of our local team members will help you out!