October 28, 2024
Bandwidth Increases Network Wide
During this past summer, we were pleased to secure significant bandwidth increases for all 33 communities we serve. Each year with more and more of what we use day to day requiring connectivity, the demand for bandwidth continues to increase. It is our responsibility to keep our network running securely and efficiently, and having adequate bandwidth is a key component.
A network wide bandwidth upgrade involves a few key components from our perspective, including:
What is bandwidth?
Bandwidth is how much information you receive every second, while speed is how fast that information is received or downloaded. Let's compare it to filling a bathtub. If the bathtub faucet has a wide opening, more water can flow at a faster rate than if the pipe was narrower. Think of the water as the bandwidth and the rate at which the water flows as the speed. Network bandwidth is commonly measured in megabits per second (Mbps) or gigabits per second (Gbps).
How much bandwidth is needed?
At home, if you have multiple devices and several family members on them at the same time, you'll need more bandwidth to keep up. Streaming, gaming and other high-capacity activities demand a certain amount of bandwidth speed to get the best experience without a lot of buffering or lag. And the more bandwidth your internet provider is able to deliver, the faster you’ll get to do your thing.
In our case, the more sites (buildings) we have on our network, the number of users at each site, and what they are doing on their devices all have an effect on how much bandwidth is needed. Some of our communities only have 1 site (Health Centre) on our network with in most cases, only 10-15 users. In contrast, some of our larger communities have 6-8 band operated facilities on our network with 100s of total users relying on our network. These are the communities that require more bandwidth.
Bandwidth Increases - Summer 2024
See the below table for a list of the previous speed, new speed, and percentage increases by community. The reason not all communities were increased to the same speed is primarily due to two factors:
There were 8 communities that we felt needed an upgrade to 1000 Mbps in order to keep up with demand. Fortunately, 1000 was available in each of these communities. And there is one community in northern Labrador (Natuasish) where the best we could do was upgrade them to 50Mbps (health centre) and 100Mbps (school) due to a lack of available bandwidth. All remaining 24 communities were upgraded to 750 Mbps, which we are confident will be sufficient to keep up with demand for the foreseeable future. From a broad perspective, we’re happy to report that bandwidth in each community has been increased by at least 200% (double) - which is significant!
How to test your speed?
My network team monitors the speed and performance of the network on a daily basis. However, anyone can test speed regardless of what network you’re connected to. There are many sites where you can go to check your speed. I usually use Speedtest by Ookla, which can be accessed at https://www.speedtest.net/, or by downloading the app. Speed tests throughout the day will vary depending on who else is connected and what they are doing. It’s important to note that advertised speeds are actually maximum bandwidth, not necessarily the speed you’ll experience during a test. For example, if you are paying for 500 Mbps at home, you’ll more than likely not reach 500 on a speed test unless all conditions (very few devices connected, using a wired connection, etc) are met.
For those working out of sites connected to our network, over the past few months you should have noticed a significant speed increase. If this has not been the case, please do not hesitate to create a support ticket by emailing support@afnts.ca. We are committed to serving all communities in the best way possible, and want to hear from you if you feel this is not the case.
Have a request or need some support?
Submit a ticket request to our team and we'll get back to you ASAP.
