Data Rate Converter (bps, Mbps, MB/s, Gbps)

Understanding the data rate converter — concept and principle

A data rate converter translates a speed between the units people actually meet: bits per second used by internet providers and network gear (kbit/s, Mbit/s, Gbit/s), bytes per second shown by browsers and disk tools (MB/s, GB/s), and binary units used by many operating systems (MiB/s). It also shows how much data that rate moves in an hour. Use it to compare a broadband plan with download speeds, check whether a disk or NAS can keep up with a network link, or estimate hourly backup volume.

Divide by 8 to go from network bits to file bytes: 1 Gbit/s moves 125 MB each second.

How it is calculated

The value is first converted to bits per second, then divided by each target unit:

Mbit/s = bit/s ÷ 10^6; Gbit/s = bit/s ÷ 10^9.
MB/s = bit/s ÷ (8 × 10^6), because one byte is 8 bits.
MiB/s = bit/s ÷ 8 ÷ 1,048,576, since 1 MiB = 2^20 bytes.
GB per hour = bit/s ÷ 8 × 3,600 ÷ 10^9.

Network rates use SI prefixes, where k = 1,000, M = 10^6 and G = 10^9.

The principle

Two separate conversions are at work. The first is bits versus bytes: communication engineering counts bits on the wire, while storage counts bytes, and 1 byte = 8 bits. The second is decimal versus binary prefixes: the SI defines mega as 10^6, while the IEC defines mebi (Mi) as 2^20 = 1,048,576. Mixing them produces the familiar puzzle of a "1 Gbps" connection that never shows "1 GB/s".

Worked example

Input: 1 Gbit/s = 10^9 bit/s.
Mbit/s: 10^9 ÷ 10^6 = 1,000.
MB/s: 10^9 ÷ 8,000,000 = 125.
MiB/s: 125,000,000 bytes ÷ 1,048,576 = 119.209.
Gbit/s: 1.
GB per hour: 125,000,000 × 3,600 ÷ 10^9 = 450 GB.

Each point is the calculator re-run with only “Value” changed; the gold point is the default example. Change the inputs above and this chart follows your numbers.

Value	Mbit/s
0.25	250
0.5	500
0.75	750
1	1,000
1.25	1,250
1.5	1,500
2	2,000

How to read the result

Divide any advertised Mbps figure by 8 to get the best-case MB/s. After protocol overhead a gigabit link usually delivers around 110–118 MB/s of file data. For storage, compare MB/s directly: a hard disk that writes about 150 MB/s can keep up with gigabit Ethernet, while a 2.5 Gbit/s link needs more than 300 MB/s.

Common mistakes

Confusing lowercase b (bit) with uppercase B (byte).
Treating MB and MiB as equal; they differ by about 4.9%.
Expecting the full line rate as file throughput; headers and retransmissions take a share.

Keep in mind: The conversion is exact, but real throughput depends on overhead, congestion and device limits, so measured speeds are normally lower than the converted line rate.

Frequently asked questions

How many MB/s is 1 Gbps?

125 MB/s in theory, or about 119 MiB/s.

How do I use the GB-per-hour figure?

To check whether a backup or replication job fits its window. At 1 Gbps, an 8-hour night moves at most about 3.6 TB.

Why do ISPs use bits instead of bytes?

Transmission technologies send bits serially, and telecom has always rated links in bits per second.

Sources: BIPM, The International System of Units (SI Brochure) · NIST, Prefixes for binary multiples (IEC 60027-2)

Checked 8 Nov 2026. Standard formulas and RFC/IEEE definitions, computed locally in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere.

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