Does iTunes Use All Available Bandwidth?
ITunes is a multifunctional media management application native to Mac OS X that can also be installed on Windows. The program stores your music and movies but also lets you download apps, subscribe to podcasts and listen to the radio. Since much of iTunes is used through an Internet connection, downloads in iTunes may influence your bandwidth usage, especially if you are downloading a number of files.
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How Bandwidth Works
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Available bandwidth, as opposed to an overall bandwidth cap, is a measure of how much data can be processed at once -- i.e., the amount of data you can upload and download at the same time. Every Internet connection is limited in bandwidth availability, which is why downloading a file can take some time rather than being instantaneous. The slower your connection, the less bandwidth you have at one time. If iTunes is hogging your bandwidth, everything else you try to do using your connection, such as browsing the Web or downloading other files, will be noticeably slower.
ITunes Bandwidth Use
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ITunes uses all available bandwidth on your connection by default, meaning that it will attempt to use whatever bandwidth isn't being using by other programs. This allows it to download purchased files, podcasts and stream music online with the best possible efficiency. The program is also capable of downloading multiple files at once. However, this does not take up more bandwidth -- it only splits up the bandwidth that is available at the moment.
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Options
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ITunes can automatically download podcasts to which you subscribe, but this can take up considerable bandwidth. You can change podcast settings to alter the intervals during which iTunes checks for updates and whether the program should download them automatically if it finds any. To do this, open iTunes, click "Podcasts" in the left sidebar, then click the "Settings" button in the blue bar at the bottom. You can also edit other automatic settings by clicking "Edit," "Preferences" and then clicking the "Store" icon at the top of the pop-up window.
Considerations
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Changing your settings will only change when iTunes uses your Internet connection by itself. When you choose to download any updates manually, iTunes will still use all possible bandwidth for its downloads and streaming. If iTunes is getting in the way of your other browsing, consider closing it until you are finished. Letting iTunes download files overnight or while you are away from your keyboard will ensure that the program doesn't interrupt or slow down anything important.
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