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Difference between Bandwidth and Data Rate

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1. Bandwidth: Bandwidth is defined as the width of the spectrum. Spectrum is the range of frequencies contained in the signal. Since bandwidth is the width of the spectrum and spectrum is a range of frequencies, bandwidth is measured in Hertz or khz or mhz. 

2. Data Rate: Data Rate is defined as the amount of data transmitted during a specified time period over a network. It is the speed at which data is transferred from one device to another or between a peripheral device and the computer. It is generally measured in Mega bits per second(Mbps) or Megabytes per second(MBps). For example, if bandwidth is 100 Mbps but the data rate is 50 Mbps, it means maximum 100 Mb of data can be transferred but the channel is transmitting only 50 Mb of data per second.

Difference between Bandwidth and Data Rate:

Bandwidth Data Rate
It is the potential of carrier channel that can carry data.  It is the amount of data transmitted during a specified time period over a network.
It is the difference between range of frequencies.  It is the speed of data transmission.
Normally it is measured in Hz or Khz or Mhz. It is normally measured in Mbps or MBps.
It refers to maximum data transmission capacity of channel.  It refers to the actual data transmission speed.
It is physical layer property in OSI model. While it is common in all layers.
It shows the capacity of the channel. It shows the present speed of data transmission.
It does not depend on properties of sender or receiver. While it gets affected by sender or receiver.

Last Updated : 19 Sep, 2022
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