The technical definition involves the difference between two frequencies and the amount of information that can flow through a channel as expressed in cycles per second (hertz). It also refers to the range of frequencies (not the speed) or the measured amount of information that can be transmitted over a connection: the higher the frequency, the higher the bandwidth and the greater the capacity of a channel to carry information. For a digital channel, bandwidth is defined in bits per second (bps). For an analog channel, it is dependent on the type and method of modulation used to encode the data. Broadcast TV channels, for example, all have the same bandwidth, by FCC rule.

You may hear bandwidth described as the amount of time it takes a Web page to fully load (although this is incorrect) or as the amount of traffic on a Web site (this is also incorrect, but widely used). Internet users refer to larger graphics as "bandwidth hogs" (because they take up so much room and download so slowly).