Thread: Microwave link question

Hi,

I was having a discussion at work today regarding bandwidth vz frequency and I am still none the wiser so hopefully someone here can clear it up for me.

With reference to RF or a microwave link it was my understanding that the higher the frequency (say 2.4GHz vz 5.8GHz), the more bandwidth you had available.

I was thinking the through put of data say in Mbs would be higher in the higher frequency 5.8GHZ than on the lower 2.4GHz whilst maintaining the same RF bandwidth.

The reason for this is I thought you could send a higher resolution image on the 5.8GHz link than a 2.4GHz link.



I know this sounds confusing and mybe I'm not making any sense. If this is the case can you please clarify the situation for me with an explanation.

Thanks

Bandwidth and frequency are independent of each other.

A higher frequency does not guarantee you wider bandwidth. A signal is as wide or as narrow as the transmitter that's generating it, or the filters that are restricting it.

Think of bandwidth as the number of lanes on a highway.
Think of frequency as the speed at which the cars travel on that highway.

No matter how fast the cars are, you can still only fit a certain number of them on that highway at any one time.
If you want to get more cars on that highway you have to make it wider.