Internet - The World Wide Web
Connecting to the Internet

Connecting to the Internet

There are many factors affecting the speed a Web site is sent to an end-user besides the speed of the user’s modem. Bandwidth is a popular term nowadays. It is used to describe an amount of data being transferred via a network connection. Bandwidth is usually measured in BPS or bits per second. Modem speeds are categorized by bits per second, but since modems are faster now, they are actually determined in Kbps, or kilobytes per second (one kilobyte is one thousand bytes). But, how much data a modem can transfer and how much it actually does are two different things.

In order to view Web pages, the user’s Web browser must send a request to the Web server over many checkpoints on the Internet. A simple request for a Web page moves through various routers and switches, data lines, firewalls, and proxy servers, all of which take some time. Eventually it winds up at the intended destination, the Web server, which then has to deliver the Web page and all its associate files back down the same path.

To make this easier to understand, imagine you are driving from your house in New York to a friend’s house in California. You will take many roads, large and small, and traffic will vary depending on where you are and the time of day. In fact, there are a million factors that will affect how long it takes to get there (even the number of times you stop for gas or food). So it is with the Internet, and download time is one of the critical factors in the success of a Web site. People do not like to wait for anything. They do not like to wait in line at the DMV, they do not like to wait for traffic lights, and they do not like to wait while a Web site downloads. It is very easy for someone to click themselves right off your page, and if you lose them that way, they may never come back!

These and other technology issues impact the real usability of the Internet for ordinary people. It is the Webmaster’s job to balance all these issues like software platforms, file sizes, and other technical questions so that the Web site is compatible with and accessible by the largest number of users. Of course, chief among these issues is download time, but many users may not be able to see flash animations, cascading style sheets (CSS), or html layers.

* Source - Everything Online Business Book
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