Megabits vs. Megabytes: What’s the Difference and Does It Matter to You?
The computer industry is fond of jargon, sometimes uniquely designed to drive you crazy. Case in point: megabits and megabytes. Both refer to units of digital information, but the difference is subtle enough to cause a lot of confusion. Don’t worry, we’ll clear it all up so you never get yelled at on Reddit again.
Megabits vs. Megabytes
It all starts with bits and bytes. A bit is the most basic unit of information in computing. It can be a one or a zero, true or false, yes or no. A byte is a collection of eight bits. Why eight? It takes eight bits to produce one unit of text, like a “J” or a “#”. Bytes are how we measure the size of files like movies, images, or documents. Bits are also measures of size, but they are used in relation to speed. You will almost never hear anyone talk about “bits” unless it says “per second” right after it.
Now let’s add the “mega” part to the equation. Because bits and bytes are so small — just a single letter or number — they’re not really useful when we’re talking about larger files like images or videos. “Mega” simply means “1 million.” One megabit is 1 million bits, and the same goes for megabytes.
| Unit | Equal to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Bit | A little | 1 of 0 |
| Byte | Eight bits | A letter |
| Megabit (Mb) | 1,000,000 bits | 125 page Word document |
| Megabyte (MB) | 8,000,000 bits | 250 HD photos |
Capitalization is everything
Much of the confusion surrounding megabits and megabytes arises when they are abbreviated. A megabit is written as Mb, while a megabyte is MB. Internet speeds are always referred to as Mbps or megabits per second. Megabytes per second is almost always used to refer to how quickly a storage device can transfer data, such as when a hard drive reads data or a file is uploaded to the cloud using an Ethernet connection. Megabytes per second is written as MBps or MB/s.
Why it matters
It’s important to know the difference between megabits and megabytes, especially when talking about internet speeds. It’s standard to use megabits per second, but you might hear someone refer to their connection as 50 megabytes per second and consider it slow. In fact, it’s equivalent to 400 megabits per second, which is pretty fast.
Frequently Asked Questions
One MB (megabyte) is equal to eight Mb (megabit). So, 1 Mbps (megabit per second) is equal to 0.125 MBps (megabyte per second).
What is bigger, MB or Mbps?
MB refers to a megabytewhile Mbps refers to megabits and pieces per second. One megabyte is equal to eight megabits.
Is Wi-Fi a megabit or megabyte?
Megabits per second (Mbps) are always used when referring to Wi-Fi speeds. You would use megabytes per second (MB/s) to refer to the speed at which data can be transferred to a storage device.
Is 100Mbps fast internet?
100 Mbps (megabits per second) is considered an average download speed for internet services. In fact, it is the absolute minimum to meet the FCC’s definition of broadband internet speed. However, an upload speed of 100 Mbps would be considered very fast — the FCC’s minimum requirement for upload speed is only 20 Mbps.
