Data Transfer Rate Converter

Data transfer rates come in two families that are easy to confuse, and this converter handles both so you never have to guess. On one side are the bit-based rates that networks are quoted in, bits per second and its multiples kilobits, megabits and gigabits per second, written with a lower-case b. On the other are the byte-based rates that downloads and storage use, bytes per second and its multiples kilobytes, megabytes and gigabytes per second, written with a capital B. Because there are eight bits in a byte, the two families differ by a factor of eight, which is exactly why a 100 megabit per second connection downloads at only about 12.5 megabytes per second, and why so many people feel short-changed by their internet plan. Enter any rate, choose its unit, and the converter instantly shows the equivalent in every other unit, from raw bits per second right up to gigabytes per second, so you can move between the marketing number and the real download speed without doing the eight-times arithmetic in your head. It uses the decimal convention, where kilo is a thousand, mega a million and giga a thousand million, which is the standard for network speeds and storage marketing. This makes it a quick, dependable tool for comparing internet plans, checking whether a connection can sustain a stream or a backup, sizing a network link, translating a speed-test result, or simply understanding the numbers on a router, a plan or a device. It is just as useful for IT staff and developers as for anyone trying to make sense of their broadband. The conversions and a worked example are explained below.

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