The speed of internet connections is specified in ‘megabits’ or Mbps so you often hear people saying things like ‘it is a 20Mbps connection’. The headline speed is only one factor in the actual user experience and another big factor is the ‘contention ratio’. In simple terms this refers to how much the internet connection is shared with other customers. A typical domestic broadband connection for example often has a contention ratio of around 50:1 meaning there can be up to 50 other users trying to share the bandwidth. Business connections are often 10:1 and a true dedicated link such as a 100Mbps fibre is 1:1 or uncontended. For events it is important to have a low contention ratio otherwise the actual speed of connection available may be much less than expected.