Why is 1000mbps internet only guaranteed at 900mbps and what’s the equipment needed to get the 1000mbps advertised?

Question

Why is 1000mbps internet only guaranteed at 900mbps and what’s the equipment needed to get the 1000mbps advertised?

In: 90

Answer 1

For all the data you send back and forth there is overhead. Your data has to be encapsulated with information that helps that data get to you. That data takes up bandwidth. So sending 900Mb of data may require 100Mb of data about how to route your data. Those are not exact numbers, but just giving you an idea. So while your speed test is telling you you are transferring 900Mb of data, you are using 1Gb total. The speed test is just not including then meta data that carries your actual data. The headers and footers around your data packets take up some of the bandwidth.