The megabit, commonly abbreviated as Mb, is a unit of digital information that is widely used to measure data transfer rates, such as internet speed. It equals one million bits. A common misconception is confusing megabits with megabytes. While both are used in computing, 1 byte equals 8 bits, thus making 1 megabyte equal to 8 megabits. This difference is crucial when reading the speed advertised by an Internet Service Provider, which typically use megabits per second (Mbps), rather than megabytes per second (MBps).
In the early days of the internet, a dial-up connection delivered speeds of about 56 kilobits per second (Kbps). In contrast, modern fiber-optic connections can reach speeds well over 1,000 Mbps, making old dial-up appear nearly stagnant. This evolution underscores how technological advancements have exponentially increased our capacity to access and share information.
The kilobyte (KB) is commonly associated with digital information and storage, and its exact value can vary depending on context. In the realm of computer science, a kilobyte is traditionally 1,024 bytes, reflecting the binary nature of computing. However, in marketing for storage devices such as hard drives, it is often rounded to 1,000 bytes, aligning with the metric system’s decimal base.
Intriguingly, the term “kilobyte” was first used in the early 1960s, when computers had a fraction of the storage capacity of today’s machines. Back then, a few kilobytes of memory were considered revolutionary, managing entire programs and datasets. This highlights how rapidly technology has evolved and continually pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with digital storage.
| Megabits | Kilibytes |
|---|---|
0
MB
|
0
KiB
|
16
MB
|
15625
KiB
|
32
MB
|
31250
KiB
|
48
MB
|
46875
KiB
|
64
MB
|
62500
KiB
|
80
MB
|
78125
KiB
|
96
MB
|
93750
KiB
|
112
MB
|
109375
KiB
|
128
MB
|
125000
KiB
|
144
MB
|
140625
KiB
|
160
MB
|
156250
KiB
|
176
MB
|
171875
KiB
|
192
MB
|
187500
KiB
|
208
MB
|
203125
KiB
|
224
MB
|
218750
KiB
|
240
MB
|
234375
KiB
|
256
MB
|
250000
KiB
|
272
MB
|
265625
KiB
|
288
MB
|
281250
KiB
|
304
MB
|
296875
KiB
|
320
MB
|
312500
KiB
|
336
MB
|
328125
KiB
|
352
MB
|
343750
KiB
|
368
MB
|
359375
KiB
|
384
MB
|
375000
KiB
|
400
MB
|
390625
KiB
|
416
MB
|
406250
KiB
|
432
MB
|
421875
KiB
|
448
MB
|
437500
KiB
|
464
MB
|
453125
KiB
|
480
MB
|
468750
KiB
|
496
MB
|
484375
KiB
|
512
MB
|
500000
KiB
|
528
MB
|
515625
KiB
|
544
MB
|
531250
KiB
|
560
MB
|
546875
KiB
|
576
MB
|
562500
KiB
|
592
MB
|
578125
KiB
|
608
MB
|
593750
KiB
|
624
MB
|
609375
KiB
|
640
MB
|
625000
KiB
|
656
MB
|
640625
KiB
|
672
MB
|
656250
KiB
|
688
MB
|
671875
KiB
|
704
MB
|
687500
KiB
|
720
MB
|
703125
KiB
|
736
MB
|
718750
KiB
|
752
MB
|
734375
KiB
|
768
MB
|
750000
KiB
|
784
MB
|
765625
KiB
|
800
MB
|
781250
KiB
|
816
MB
|
796875
KiB
|
832
MB
|
812500
KiB
|
848
MB
|
828125
KiB
|
864
MB
|
843750
KiB
|
880
MB
|
859375
KiB
|
896
MB
|
875000
KiB
|
912
MB
|
890625
KiB
|
928
MB
|
906250
KiB
|
944
MB
|
921875
KiB
|
960
MB
|
937500
KiB
|
976
MB
|
953125
KiB
|
992
MB
|
968750
KiB
|
1008
MB
|
984375
KiB
|
1024
MB
|
1000000
KiB
|