Data Rate Converter
Data rates are quoted in many units, and the eight-fold gap between bits and bytes causes constant confusion. Enter a value, choose the unit you have and the unit you want, and the converter handles bits and bytes, SI prefixes (powers of 1,000), and binary prefixes (powers of 1,024). All factors are exact, so the result is precise to the displayed decimals.
How the conversion works
value in bits/s = value * (from factor)
result = value in bits/s / (to factor)
base unit: bits per second; 1 byte = 8 bits
SI prefixes (k, M, G, T) use powers of 1,000. Binary prefixes (Ki, Mi, Gi) use powers of 1,024. Byte units are eight times their bit equivalent.
Worked example
100 Mbps equals 100,000,000 bits per second. Dividing by 8,000,000 (the bytes-per-second factor for MB/s) gives 12.50 MB/s.
Data rate: frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Mbps and MB/s?
Mbps is megabits per second and MB/s is megabytes per second. Because one byte equals eight bits, 8 Mbps equals 1 MB/s. Internet plans are usually advertised in megabits, while file download speeds are often shown in megabytes.
What is the difference between KB/s and KiB/s?
KB/s uses the SI kilobyte of 1,000 bytes, while KiB/s uses the binary kibibyte of 1,024 bytes. They differ by about 2.4 percent at the kilo level and more at higher prefixes. Network speeds typically use SI; some storage and memory tools use binary.
How is the conversion done?
Every unit is expressed relative to bits per second, the base unit. The input is converted to bits per second, then to the target unit. One byte is exactly eight bits, SI prefixes use powers of 1,000, and binary prefixes use powers of 1,024.
Why does my download seem slower than my plan?
A 100 Mbps plan equals 12.5 MB/s at best. Real speeds are also reduced by network congestion, distance to the server, Wi-Fi limits, and protocol overhead, so actual file transfers often run below the theoretical maximum.
Official sources
- NIST, prefixes for binary multiples: physics.nist.gov.
- NIST, SI prefixes: physics.nist.gov.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 19 June 2026. See our methodology.