Metered Vs Unmetered Vs Unlimited Bandwidth ; What’s the difference
The bandwidth of the wi-fi is often confused by the speed of the wi-fi. It is not exactly the speed of wi-fi. What is it then? Well, let’s learn more about this topic. The wi-fi bandwidth refers to the “volume” of data that can be transmitted. The volume of data transmitted in a specific period is known to be the bandwidth of the wi-fi. If the bandwidth of an internet connection is good, it can transfer maximum data in a certain time. The unit through which you can measure bandwidth is megabits. To understand which bandwidth is better among the two connections, you often look at the megabits and analyze the data that the connection transmits at a specific time. A good bandwidth usually ranges from 12 megabits (for two devices) to 25 megabits, respectively. If your internet bandwidth falls within this same range, that means it is doing better. The bandwidth is also dependent on the number of devices connected.
Types Of Bandwidth
There are certain types of bandwidths that are functional in the market. The best one depends on the custom-tailored needs of the customer. If you want the internet connection for your house, the type of bandwidth you should have would differ from that of an office containing thirty employees. In the same way, the bandwidth that a university requires differs majorly from the bandwidth that is a requisite of a small organization.
Thus, who you are as a customer will choose the type of bandwidth that you should select. Generally, there are four types of bandwidth. These are Public Wireless (The wi-fi usually available at public hospitals, grocery stores and public offices), Public Broadband, Private Networks (household connections) and Hybrid Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN).
What Does Metered Bandwidth Mean?
Metered bandwidth is a type of bandwidth connection that is measurable. In this plan, the customer pays according to the number of GBs they use. For example, you have a connection that allows you to use 200GB of internet monthly. You purchase that package for domestic use. The speed at which you can use those 200GBs in a month is 50Mbps. Now, whenever you use the internet and transfer any data, you use 50Mbps every second out of the total of 200GBs.
As you use more, the overall cap of your connection goes down. In metered bandwidth connection, your server gets monitored. If you go overboard with your allowed cap, either the connection will stop working, and you won’t be able to transmit the data, or you have to pay more for what you are using above the allowed limit. Metered connections are the best for domestic use or for the business which handles a single website. It may be the best option for large organizations.
What Is Unmetered Bandwidth?
As the name suggests, unmetered bandwidth is not measurable. The data you transfer and how much you transfer are not monitored in this case. In unmetered bandwidth, you are provided with the speed. For example, the speed at which you transfer is 50Mbps. 50Mbps is the speed with no limitation of how much you transfer. There is a fixed rate for the speed you get, and you pay for that cost. You do not need to worry about the volume of data you transmit in a certain amount of time. There is no limitation on the volume of data that the server can transfer.
What is Unlimited Bandwidth?
When we say unlimited bandwidth, we do not look at all means that you can go overboard with your server and data. There is always a restricted factor. There is always something pressing that creates a restricted factor. For starters under the unlimited bandwidths, you don’t get unlimited speed. There is always a limit to the speed of the bandwidth. The unlimited word refers to unlimited data that you can transmit on the server.
Certainly, unlimited bandwidth in some measure refers to metered bandwidth. However, the cap at which you can transfer data and the size of the server is substantially greater in unlimited bandwidth. If you have a limit of 200GBs at metered connection with unlimited bandwidth, you may be able to have a cap of up to 600GBs. The internet companies usually believe that customers wouldn’t go up to 600 GB of data transfer. Thus, they advertise it as “unlimited bandwidth”. If you look closely, you always have a data cap on it.
Factors That Differentiate Between Metered, Unmetered And Unlimited Bandwidth.
Price
The pricing of metered bandwidth follows a certain cycle. A company provides you with the cap up to transmit data. Furthermore, you have been given a speed at which the data will transmit. The price will depend on both the speed and the capacity that you use. If you exhaust the data transmission limit, you have to pay more to avail of it.
Unmetered Bandwidth
In this category, you only pay for the package’s speed. That means you do not have to worry about the transmission of data and how much you have done in a certain period. It is the most expensive. You will only pay for the speed at which you transmit data on your server. There is no worrying about data exhaustion in this case. You pay a flat price.
The table shows just a few different packages of our USA based servers. The three different packages have different speeds of data transmission. The higher the speed, the higher the price.
Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited bandwidth is not unlimited. The organization assumes that you would not be able to exceed the gap. In this scenario, you are charged for the big cap you are given, plus the speed you transmit data. Unlimited bandwidth is more expensive than metered bandwidth but less expensive than unmetered bandwidth. Usually, people do not worry about the exhaustion of GBs in it.
2. Bandwidth Tracking
Metered Bandwidth
In the case of metered bandwidth, the company monitors the overall usage of bandwidth. The user is charged based on the bandwidth used. The tracking of bandwidth is an essential procedure in this case of metered bandwidth.
Unmetered Bandwidth
Unmetered bandwidth has an advantage over here. The client is charged for a base bandwidth speed allotted. The overall usage of data transmission is not monitored here. The tracking will take place only in terms of speed.
Unlimited Bandwidth
The usage of GBs is tracked here. Even though the companies claim it to be technically unlimited, they are not unlimited entirely. If you cross the limit of unlimited bandwidth, the server stops and either pay or upgrade the limit.
3. Limitation on crossing the allowed data transfer cap
Metered Bandwidth
In the case of metered bandwidth, they have to keep monitoring their transmission data if the client has it. If they cross the purchased limit, the server will stop responding. To use it, the client has to either purchase additional bandwidth or upgrade their current data transmission limit (GBs they can use in a certain time frame).
Unmetered bandwidth
There is no monitoring and a slim chance of exhausting the data. In the case of unmetered bandwidth, you have no limit to data transmission. Thus, there is no cap on crossing the allotted bandwidth.
Unlimited bandwidth
Unlimited bandwidth is a myth. There is a limitation in unlimited bandwidth too. These limits are difficult to cross for the client, but they get monitored by the companies. If you use all of it, you have to purchase additional bandwidth.
What is the best option to choose from these three?
We often ask what they should choose and which bandwidth package they should buy. The answer is simple. You have to look at what is according to your needs. If you want bandwidth for domestic use, at a beginner level and for a single website or a few small websites, you can go for metered bandwidth. It would be less expensive and would come in handy for you.
However, if you work at an accounting firm, for example, the firm with a lot of data transmission involved metered bandwidth may do the job for you. What will you do then? If you end up in a firm that relies on data transmission, choose unmetered data. Big organizations and huge spaces use unmetered bandwidth. This type of bandwidth is costly, but it will do the job for you. There would be no limit to data transmission.
In the end, comes the unlimited bandwidth; before buying unlimited bandwidth, look out for the bandwidth’s uppermost cap. There is always a hidden limit on such bandwidth packages, whatever the companies may say. Moderate websites with higher bandwidth requirements can go for it.
Conclusively, if you want dedicated servers, you should check Temok. Not only do we provide dedicated SEO servers, but we also provide dedicated servers. Hopefully, you have completely understand the details of Metered Vs Unmetered Vs Unlimited Bandwidth but if you still have any questions in your mind, please ask me in the comment section. I would love to answers them.
Originally published at https://www.temok.com on February 1, 2022.
