7. How is bandwidth availability a consideration in the use of synchronous components in an online course?
According to Wikipedia, bandwidth has various takes. This, “bandwidth (computing): a rate of data transfer, bit rate or throughput, measured in bits per second (bps)”, is the definition I will focus on. Some of the concerns we have for our students to succeed is if their systems would download/upload adequately so not to frustrate them while completing their OL course. Speeds that are acceptable may be 1 Mbps for downloads and 500 Kbps for uploads on cable modems. Sites like this link, test your internet speed, can help you gage the speed of your modem’s bandwidth in relationship to others modems. A technological advance that may threaten cable and DSL modems is 3G-4G wireless connections. In an article by Marguerite Reardon (Mar 22, 2010), download speeds of wireless are between 3Mbps and 6Mbps. The speed the modem operates doesn’t affect chats let’s say, but viewing live feeds, the more bps available, the better the stream.
This has caused me to rethink using modem. What I am not sure of if the system is dependable. When I called one provider, the service rep stated that there were more drops on cell phones than 3-4 G systems operating desktops or laptops. I don’t have many drop calls right now, so I would consider getting a smart phone. The question is which provider to go with.
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