Data Transfer Rate Converter
Mbps to MB/s and back, so internet plan speeds match what your downloads show
Mbps to MB/s and back, so internet plan speeds match what your downloads show. No data leaves your browser – every conversion happens locally.
Bits per second versus bytes per second
Connection speeds are sold in bits per second (Mbps, Gbps). Download dialogs and file managers show bytes per second (MB/s). One byte is 8 bits, so divide Mbps by 8 to get MB/s. All units here are decimal, so 1 Mbps is exactly 1,000,000 bits per second.
The converted figure is the ceiling, not what you'll see. TCP/IP overhead takes roughly 5–10%, and Wi-Fi, a busy server or a slow disk on the other end can take much more. Use the Internet Speed Test to see what your line actually delivers.
Data rate reference
| 1 Mbps | 125 KB/s |
| 100 Mbps | 12.5 MB/s |
| 1 Gbps | 125 MB/s |
| 10 Gbps | 1.25 GB/s |
Good to know
Mbps vs MB/s: the bits vs bytes trap
Internet speeds are advertised in Mbps (megabits per second). Download speeds in your browser show MB/s (megabytes per second). Divide Mbps by 8 to get MB/s. A '100 Mbps' plan gives you about 12.5 MB/s downloads.
Worked examples
A 300 Mbps fibre plan
Tops out at 37.5 MB/s. In practice downloads usually settle around 30–35 MB/s on a wired connection.
Downloading a 50 GB game
On 100 Mbps the theoretical time is 66.7 minutes. Plan for 75–80 once overhead is included.
Uploading a video
With 10 Mbps upload (1.25 MB/s), a 25 MB clip takes about 20 seconds.
Plan speed versus real download time
Each row converts an internet plan speed to MB/s, then works out the fastest possible time to download a 1 GB and a 10 GB file. Real downloads take longer, for the reasons covered above.
| Plan speed | MB/s | 1 GB file | 10 GB file |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | 1.25 MB/s | 800 s (13.3 min) | 133.3 min |
| 25 Mbps | 3.13 MB/s | 320 s | 53.3 min |
| 50 Mbps | 6.25 MB/s | 160 s | 26.7 min |
| 100 Mbps | 12.5 MB/s | 80 s | 13.3 min |
| 200 Mbps | 25 MB/s | 40 s | 6.7 min |
| 300 Mbps | 37.5 MB/s | 27 s | 4.4 min |
| 500 Mbps | 62.5 MB/s | 16 s | 2.7 min |
| 1 Gbps | 125 MB/s | 8 s | 1.3 min |
Upload speed and the slowest link
Most home broadband is asymmetric, so the upload speed can be a fraction of the download speed. A plan sold as 100 Mbps might upload at 10 or 20 Mbps. When you're working out how long a video upload or a cloud backup will take, use the upload figure from your speed test, not the headline number.
The other mistake is assuming the plan is the bottleneck. A gigabit fibre line won't give 125 MB/s if the laptop is on older Wi-Fi, the cable is rated for 100 Mbps, or the drive you're saving to is slow. The slowest link in the chain sets the speed.