what does bandwidth in a channel really mean?

Question

I'm new to EE, just a question on bandwidth in a channel. The book I'm reading describe the definition of bandwidth as

The term bandwidth can refer to the number of bits per second that a channel, a link, or even a network can transmit.

Below is a picture to illustrate:

Below are my questions:

1. Since bandwidth refer to the number of bits per second that a channel can transmit. So in the picture, the channel/link can move/transmit 5 bits in one second(inside the channel/link), shouldn't the bandwidth be 5bps?

2. If "transmit" means how many bits the receiver receives in one second, then it make senses that the bandwidth is 1bps, but it also raises another question, the bandwidth is 0bps for the receiver in the first five seconds(since the first bit hasn't reached the receiver's end), after 5 secs, the bandwidth is 1bps. So strictly speaking, the receivers has no bandwidth in the first 5 secs, but since we are talking bandwidth in a broad picture, the initial no bandwidth state can be ignored, is my understanding correct?

Answer 1

1. No, you're still only putting 1 bit per second and getting 1 bit per second at the other end. The fact that the channel is "storing" 5 bits is irrelevant.

2. Bandwidth is the maximum channel capacity, not the actual number of bits transferred at any given moment.