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There are Mbps, MBit/s and MB/s. This is often confusing because it is not always clear what is behind the individual abbreviations. We explain where there are similarities and differences.
Mbps, MBit/s and MB/s – that’s where the difference lies
When distinguishing between Mbps, MBit/s and MB/s, you should be aware of the risk of confusion.
- Mbps stands for “megabits per second” and indicates the speed of data transfer – for example, the maximum speed of mobile internet or how fast data can be transferred to a USB stick.
- MBit/s stands for “Megabits per Second”, so exactly the same. However, MBit/s is used much more frequently. The term MBps is used to try to reduce the risk of confusion with MB/s. Because that is something completely different.
- MB/s (also MBps) stands for “megabytes per second”. 1 MB/s is 1024 x 1024 bytes/second.
- 1 Mbps or 1 Mbit/s is exactly one million bits per second. In contrast, MB/s stands for megabytes per second, where 1 MB/s corresponds to 8 Mbps.
