MBps and Mbps are abbreviations for terms used to specify data transfer speed between two points. Although the difference in the word is minimal, the difference in the amount of data that each term refers to is remarkable and is a frequent cause of confusion:
- MBps is the abbreviation for megabyte per second.
- Mbps is the abbreviation for megabit per second (sometimes it can be seen as mbps but this is wrong as technically the m lowercase means milli and no mega).
megabyte vs megabit
The difference between MBps and Mbps lies in megabyte and megabit. A bit of digital data is a single digit, a "zero" or a "1" (digital data is made up of a series of zeros and ones). A single character needs at least 8 bits to be represented and this is equal to 1 byte. So:
- 8 bits = 1 byte
- 1000 bytes = 1 kilobyte (KB) = 8 kilobits (KB)
- 1000 kilobytes (KB) = 1 Megabyte (MB) = 8 megabits (Mb)
The above notation would be a computation of multiples of data in the decimal system. But binary system used in data storage on computer equipment is different. In the binary system 1 KB (kilobyte) does not take 1000 bytes of memory but 1024 bytes. This is because the binary system is a base 2 system and 210 = 1024. Strictly speaking, when talking about data storage in computer equipment, the correct term is KiB (Kibibyte) and MiB (Mebibyte). However, these terms are mostly used in the professional field as the terms KB and MB have become much more popular. In any case, when talking about data transfer, it is correct to talk about MBps and Mbps, since data transfer is measured in the decimal system and not in the binary system.
The data transfer rate is often used as a measure of the performance of some devices such as USB ports, card readers and other mobile devices and is often measured in Megabytes or Megabits per second. This measurement is also used to measure data transfer in internet connections. For example, if you see an offer from an internet access provider that offers you 2,000 kbps, you should know that it is the same as 2 Mbps.
The speed of Wi-Fi networks is also often measured in Mbps. 802.11g Wi-Fi technology has a maximum speed of 54 Mbps (54 megabits per second, not megabytes). Wireless networks with 802.11n technology can support up to 100 Mbps. You can check if your WiFi network adapter is of one type or another in its specifications.