Broadband Glossary

Contention Ratio

• Contention means that you share your bandwidth with a number of other users.

This means that the quality and speed of connection is dependent on the number of users online at any given time.

For business ADSL use, the contention ratio is likely to be around 20:1. In other words, up to 19 other users share your bandwidth.

For cable modem uses, the contention ratio could be as high as 50:1. In other words, up to 49 other users share your bandwidth.