| Contention ratio refers to the bandwidth
sharing between a number of other users. To enable affordable broadband,
your broadband connection is actually shared with a number of other users.
The number of other users you share bandwidth, with, is what is called your
"contention ratio". Typical contention ratios for ADSL are around
50:1,
meaning, that there are 49 other users who share your bandwidth.
This normally does not present any problems, however, heavy use of the
broadband network by other users can slow your own connection. Similarly, if
you are a heavy user of bandwidth, you may slow the performance for other
broadband users.
Cable broadband tends to have higher contention ratios than ADSL since
the underground fiber-optic cables allow greater bandwidth than ADSL.
Contention ratios with cable tend to be around 50:1; meaning 49 other users
can be connected to the internet using the same bandwidth as you although
higher contention ratios of 75:1 are not uncommon. |
