Top Vendors for Bandwidth Utilization

Bandwidth utilization measures the amount of data transferred over a network. When you access the Internet, data travels back and forth between your computer network and the Internet. There are many reasons to know more about how much bandwidth your company uses and how fast your connection works.

If several applications try to use a lot of bandwidth at the same time, the total speed may go down, much as you lose water pressure when other people in the building use water at the same time. When it comes to bandwidth utilization, you want to know the following facts:

1. The amount of bandwidth you use a month may depend on whether your internet provider limits the amount;

2. The speed of your internet access varies according to several factors;

3. And the types of Internet applications that require the most bandwidth utilization on your network.

Find your bandwidth utilization speed

It's easy and free to find bandwidth utilization meters on the Internet. Compare your bandwidth to standard rates for DSL, cable modem and other broadband technologies. Your bandwidth may vary based on the time of day and the types of Internet activity occurring when you run the test.

Make sure you don't exceed your bandwidth utilization cap

Because some internet providers are now putting a maximum cap on monthly bandwidth used by their subscribers, you may want to monitor your bandwidth utilization. Provider by provider, each company has a different policy and may or may not provide you with software to monitor your usage. Even if your company provides unlimited bandwidth, you may be curious about how much you use, and there are a number of software applications that can tell you.

Get bandwidth utilization information for your computer network

The result, when you run a network monitoring application, is a bandwidth utilization list of websites and applications that your network accesses. Some of these, like your Internet phone service, website database and internal email, are applications that should receive priority. If your employees are streaming videos on their break time, you may want those to receive lower priority.

Monitor your employees' bandwidth utilization

There are many reasons to monitor employee use of the Internet. Make sure your employees are not using company time and resources for personal use or to download inappropriate content. You may also want to block inappropriate websites.

• No matter what size your computer network is, information on bandwidth utilisation can help you make sure it functions efficiently.