Megabits are not megabytes
When you buy an internet connection, the provider tells you the internet speed in megabits. Internet speed testers, like speedtest.net also tell you your internet speed in megabits. Megabits are used to measure internet speed.
But file sizes are measured in megabytes, not megabits. This is why you only get ~10MB/s download speed when your internet speed is 100Mb/s. 1 megabyte is 8 megabits.
| Internet speed (megabits) | Actual download speed (megabytes) |
|---|---|
| 100 Mb/s | 12.5 MB/s |
| 500 Mb/s | 62.5 MB/s |
| 1000 Mb/s | 125 MB/s |
This is super confusing. I always knew there was a difference in megabytes and megabits but I didn't realize just how big the difference is.
- Megabit = Mb = internet speed
- Megabyte = MB = file size
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