band⋅width
[band-width, -with] 
| 1. | Telecommunications. the smallest range of frequencies constituting a band, within which a particular signal can be transmitted without distortion. |
| 2. | the transmission capacity of an electronic communications device or system; the speed of data transfer: a high-bandwidth Internet connection. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| band·width (bānd'wĭdth', -wĭth') n.
|
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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bandwidth
The amount of data that can be carried by a digital communication medium, often expressed in hertz.
Note: Within the radio and microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum limited bandwidth is available, and in the United States the use of the spectrum is regulated and allocated by the FCC. (See VHF and UHF.)
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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bandwidth
n.1. [common] Used by hackers (in a generalization of its technical meaning) as the volume of information per unit time that a computer, person, or transmission medium can handle. "Those are amazing graphics, but I missed some of the detail -- not enough bandwidth, I guess." Compare low-bandwidth. This generalized usage began to go mainstream after the Internet population explosion of 1993-1994.
2. Attention span.
3. On Usenet, a measure of network capacity that is often wasted by people complaining about how items posted by others are a waste of bandwidth.
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Bandwidth
The data transfer capacity of a network. It is measured in bits per second.
Investopedia Commentary
If your Internet connection is slower than a three-toed sloth, it's probably because of a lack of bandwidth.
Related Links
Investment Scams Tutorial
See also: ADSL, Broadband, Internet Service Provider - ISP, MP3
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bandwidth (bānd'wĭdth', -wĭth') Pronunciation Key
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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bandwidth communications
The difference between the highest and lowest frequencies of a transmission channel (the width of its allocated band of frequencies).
The term is often used erroneously to mean data rate or capacity - the amount of data that is, or can be, sent through a given communications circuit per second.
[How is data capacity related to bandwidth?]
[The Jargon File]
(2001-04-24)
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