--- title: Bandwidth: Capacity, Not Speed Alone | High Desert Internet url: https://hdiss.net/glossary/bandwidth/ business: High Desert Internet Services (HDISS) phone: 775-575-9593, 775-391-5660 email: info@hdiss.net mailing_address: Home base: 200 S Virginia St, Suite 760, Reno NV 89501 (dispatch office, not a walk-in store). Mail: Billing Dept., PO Box 11353, Reno NV 89510 hours: Office open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, seven days a week. Network watched around the clock. type: Fixed wireless internet service provider (homes and small businesses), web hosting, customer email, domain registration service_area: Northern Nevada - Washoe, Lyon, Storey, Churchill and Douglas counties and Carson City; availability is checked address by address (line of sight to a tower) plans: Bronze $50/mo up to 500 Mbps down, up to 200 Mbps up; Silver $75/mo up to 800 down, up to 200 up; Gold $99/mo up to 1 Gig down, up to 200 up; ask about the up to 1 Gig / 1 Gig ultra-low-latency service no_online_purchase: true (check your address or call; existing customers pay at https://www2.fernley.net/hdiss/onlinepay/paymentform.cfm) since: 2002 --- - [Home](https://hdiss.net/) - [Glossary](https://hdiss.net/glossary/) - Bandwidth # Bandwidth Bandwidth is capacity, the size of the pipe. It is how much can flow at the same moment, not how quickly the first drop arrives. A router and a laptop. Stock photo: Adobe Stock. [Photo credits](https://hdiss.net/photo-credits/) ## What is bandwidth? In networking, bandwidth is the most data a link can move per second, so internet plans are sold by it. The word has an older meaning in radio, the width of a band of frequencies, and the two are linked: a wider radio channel can carry more data. In daily use, people say "bandwidth" and "speed" for the same thing, and that is fine as long as you remember that [latency](https://hdiss.net/glossary/latency/) is a different quantity. The pipe image works. A wide pipe lets many things flow at once. A narrow one lets a few. Neither says how long the pipe is. ## Who shares the bandwidth on a wireless network? Your own household shares your plan: every phone, TV, camera and laptop draws from the same capacity. Upstream, the customers on one tower share the radio capacity of that tower, which is a normal feature of any shared network, wireless or cable. This is one reason the plans say "up to" and why an evening can differ from a morning. A radio channel has a set width, covered under [channel width](https://hdiss.net/glossary/channel-width/), and the operator sets how it is used. High Desert does not publish tower loading or typical speeds, and this page does not guess. ## What should I do about it? See what is using yours. A security camera that uploads all day, a cloud backup, a game download and several streams add up. The guide on [seeing what is using your bandwidth](https://hdiss.net/guides/see-what-is-using-your-bandwidth/) shows how to look, and [estimating your monthly data use](https://hdiss.net/guides/estimate-your-monthly-data-use/) helps with totals. If you want more room, compare plans on [the plans page](https://hdiss.net/internet-plans/) or ask a person at 775-575-9593. A wired test, described on the [speed test page](https://hdiss.net/speed-test/), shows what the connection itself delivers. ### Sources - [fcc.gov/consumers/guides/household-broadband-guide](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/household-broadband-guide) (FCC Household Broadband Guide) - [rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1983](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1983) (RFC 1983, Internet Users' Glossary, IETF, entry for bandwidth) ### Talk to a person - Call [775-575-9593](tel:7755759593) [775-391-5660](tel:7753915660) Open 9-5 every day - Email [info@hdiss.net](mailto:info@hdiss.net) [Check my address](https://hdiss.net/check-availability/#check) ### Related terms - [Mbps](https://hdiss.net/glossary/mbps/) - [Latency](https://hdiss.net/glossary/latency/) - [Network congestion](https://hdiss.net/glossary/network-congestion/) - [Channel width](https://hdiss.net/glossary/channel-width/) - [How to see what is using your bandwidth](https://hdiss.net/guides/see-what-is-using-your-bandwidth/) Local since 2002 Fixed wireless from towers in Northern Nevada. Three plans, no contracts, local support, 4.8 on Google from 36 reviews. [About High Desert](https://hdiss.net/about/)