Bandwidth vs. Traffic: What’s the Difference?
Many people confuse bandwidth and traffic, although they are two different things. Especially in web hosting, it’s important to distinguish these terms in order to properly understand plans and services.
What Is Bandwidth?
Bandwidth describes the maximum data transfer rate – that is, how much data can be transmitted per second through the connection. It is measured in Mbit/s or Gbit/s. Higher bandwidth means more visitors can access your website quickly at the same time.
What Is Traffic?
Traffic refers to the actual amount of data transferred – meaning how many gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB) your website generates over a specific period of time. This includes:
- Page views (HTML, CSS, images, scripts)
- Downloads and uploads
- Email sending and receiving
Practical Example
Your hosting plan offers 100 Mbit/s bandwidth and 500 GB traffic per month:
- Bandwidth determines how fast individual visitors can retrieve data.
- Traffic determines how much data can be transferred in total during the month.
Bandwidth & Traffic at CURIAWEB
Our web hosting plans in Switzerland offer plenty of SSD storage, high bandwidth, and generous traffic limits. This ensures your websites remain fast and reliable, even with high visitor numbers.
