MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Layers
  2. 2Addresses
  3. 3DNS
  4. 4TCP and UDP
  5. 5Routing
  6. 6HTTP
  7. 7Wifi and local networks
  8. 8Latency and bandwidth
  9. 9Diagnosing problems
  10. 10How the internet fits together

Chapter 8 of 10

Latency and bandwidth

Two different complaints.

The difference

Bandwidth is how much data per second the pipe carries. Latency is how long one packet takes to arrive. A fast connection with high latency still feels sluggish.

  • Distance sets a floor on latency, because nothing beats the speed of light.
  • A video call needs low latency; a download needs bandwidth.

Caches and CDNs

A content delivery network keeps copies close to users so the request travels less far. That is why the same page loads faster the second time and faster again for the next visitor nearby.