A measure of the capacity of a communications channel. It is the range of frequencies that a channel can handle. Bandwidth may be given as a frequency (range), such as 3 kHz, or as a transmission rate in bits per second (bps), such as 63 Kbps. Transmission rate is often referred to as line speed. For example, channels might be described as having line speeds of 56K or 64K, meaning 56 Kbps or 64 Kbps.

Related terms

capacity

asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL)

broadband

narrow band

bits per second (bps)

connection speed

Term sub categories

Networks and communications technology
   data transmission