In this paper, we investigate the impact of different sub-band spreading bandwidth (SSBW) on a direct sequence (DS) multiband (MB) ultra wideband (UWB) system in multipath and narrowband interference over realistic UWB channel models based on actual measurements. As an approach to effectively mitigate multipath and narrowband interference, the DS-MB-UWB system employs multiple sub-bands instead of a wide single band for data transmission. By using spreading chips with different duration settings, the SSBW can be manipulated. As a result, it is observed that increasing SSBW does not always improve system performance. Optimum SSBW values exist and are found to vary in accordance to different operating parameters such as the number of sub-bands and types of propagation channel model. Additionally, we have also found that system performance in the presence of narrowband interference is heavily dependent on the number of employed sub-bands.