⚡ 1 Mbps = 0.125 MB/s (decimal) but 0.119209 MiB/s (binary). Network speeds are often shown in Mbps, while file transfers show MiB/s.
📡 Understanding Mbps vs MiB/s
Mbps (Megabit per second): Standard unit for network bandwidth (Internet speeds). 1 Mbps = 1,000,000 bits per second (decimal).
MiB/s (Mebibyte per second): Binary unit for data transfer, 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes, commonly used in file transfers and operating systems.
Conversion: MiB/s = Mbps ÷ 8.388608 (since 8 bits per byte × 1,048,576 bytes per MiB).
🔍 Real-world examples
- 100 Mbps internet → actual download speed ≈ 11.92 MiB/s (Windows file copy)
- 500 Mbps fiber → ~59.6 MiB/s real transfer rate
- 1 Gbps connection → ~119.2 MiB/s maximum theoretical throughput
⚙️ Quick conversion table
| Mbps | MiB/s (binary) | MB/s (decimal) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Mbps | 0.1192 MiB/s | 0.125 MB/s |
| 10 Mbps | 1.192 MiB/s | 1.25 MB/s |
| 50 Mbps | 5.960 MiB/s | 6.25 MB/s |
| 100 Mbps | 11.921 MiB/s | 12.5 MB/s |
| 250 Mbps | 29.802 MiB/s | 31.25 MB/s |
| 500 Mbps | 59.605 MiB/s | 62.5 MB/s |
| 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) | 119.209 MiB/s | 125 MB/s |
❓ Frequently Asked
Why is my 100 Mbps internet showing only ~11 MB/s download? Because ISPs advertise in megabits (Mbps), while file transfers show mebibytes (MiB/s) or megabytes (MB/s). 100 Mbps ÷ 8 = 12.5 MB/s, but due to binary vs decimal, it's ~11.9 MiB/s.
What's the difference between MB/s and MiB/s? MB/s uses decimal (1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes), MiB/s uses binary (1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes). Network overhead also reduces actual speeds.
How to calculate real download time? File size in MiB ÷ speed in MiB/s = seconds. Example: 1 GiB file on 100 Mbps connection ≈ 1024 MiB ÷ 11.92 MiB/s ≈ 86 seconds.