Bandwidth Vs Download Speed Are they same?

The answer is NO... because Bandwidth is the maximum traffic capacity of your Network and Download Speed is what you actually get. Let me explain...

Download Speed depends on two factors. One is Bandwidth. Another is Latency (Also called Delay). Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred during a second. It is normally expressed in bits per second.

Latency is the Round-Trip Time (Host Server -> Destination Server -> Host Server) taken for a small packet of data (usually 32 bytes) when you ping with CMD (Command Prompt). Pinging is a method to measure latency. Latency is normally expressed in milliseconds. Latency increases either if the distance between the Host Server (Your Computer) and the Destination Server (Any Website) increases or if there is a congestion in the traffic. But Latency will not necessarily decrease even if Bandwidth is increased. Why?

In simple terms, Bandwidth is like the width of a pipe. Latency indicates the time taken to cross a particular distance by the flow inside the pipe!! Both these factors together determine the end-result (Download Speed). Got it?

The next-time you communicate with your ISP (Internet Service Provider), don't forget to ask your actual Download speed!!