Data Transfer Rate Converter
Turn any data rate into a different unit — bit/s, Mbit/s, Gbit/s, MB/s, GB/s, and more — and finally see why megabits and megabytes are not the same thing.
Pivots through bit/s
Every unit is a fixed multiple of the bit per second, so the converter pivots through bit/s for one consistent rule.
Bits vs bytes
One byte is 8 bits, so byte-based units (MB/s) are eight times larger than bit-based ones (Mbit/s) — the source of most confusion.
What is a data transfer rate converter?
One rate, any unit
A data transfer rate converter changes a speed from one unit into another — Mbit/s to MB/s, MB/s to Mbit/s, Gbit/s to Mbit/s, kbit/s to bit/s, and back. It works by translating every value through a single shared pivot, the bit per second (bit/s), so any pair of units converts with one consistent rule. This tool covers the nine units used for broadband, downloads, streaming, and networking: bit/s, kbit/s, Mbit/s, Gbit/s, Tbit/s, B/s, kB/s, MB/s, and GB/s.
Data rates share a zero point, so converting is purely multiplicative — scale by the factor in, then by the factor out. The one twist is that byte-based units carry a factor of 8, because one byte is eight bits.
result = value × (bit/s per from-unit) ÷ (bit/s per to-unit)This converter uses decimal (1000-based) prefixes — the convention for network speeds — so 1 Mbit/s is 1,000,000 bit/s and 1 Gbit/s is 1000 Mbit/s. A byte-based unit such as MB/s is 8,000,000 bit/s. The converter turns your value into bits per second first, then into the unit you want — so a single rule handles every direction.
Suppose you want to convert 100 Mbit/s — a common broadband plan — into MB/s.
Convert to bits per second
Multiply by the Mbit/s factor: 100 × 1,000,000 = 100,000,000 bit/s.Convert out to MB/s
Divide by the MB/s factor: 100,000,000 ÷ 8,000,000 = 12.5.Read the result
100 Mbit/s converts to 12.5 MB/s — the real download speed your file manager will show.
The shortcut to remember is simple: to turn a bit-rate into a byte-rate, divide by 8. That single step explains the most common internet question — "why is my 100 Mbps line only downloading at 12 MB/s?" Nothing is broken: ISPs advertise speeds in megaBITS per second (Mbit/s), while file managers, browsers, and game launchers report megaBYTES per second (MB/s), and a byte is eight bits. So 100 Mbit/s is 12.5 MB/s, 50 Mbit/s is 6.25 MB/s, and a 1 Gbit/s fibre line tops out near 125 MB/s. To go the other way, multiply a byte-rate by 8. If a converted number looks off by a factor of eight, check whether you have mixed a bit unit (lowercase b) with a byte unit (uppercase B) — the swap arrow flips the direction in one click.
The arithmetic is exact; the limits are about precision and which prefix convention applies.
Decimal prefixes and real-world overhead
This converter uses decimal (1000-based) prefixes, the standard for network and storage rates, so 1 Mbit/s is exactly 1,000,000 bit/s — not the binary 1,048,576 some tools assume. Results are rounded to six decimal places, so conversions with long decimal tails may lose the last digit. The figures are theoretical line rates: real throughput is lower because of protocol overhead, congestion, and Wi-Fi loss, so a 100 Mbit/s plan often delivers somewhat under 12.5 MB/s in practice.