Why is my download speed lower than my internet plan?

Plans advertise megabits (Mbps); downloads show megabytes (MB/s). There are 8 bits in a byte, so 100 Mbps ÷ 8 = 12.5 MB/s maximum — before any network overhead. Your speed is not actually lower; the units differ by 8×.

What is the difference between Mbps and MB/s?

Mbps is megabits per second (lowercase b); MB/s is megabytes per second (uppercase B). 1 MB/s = 8 Mbps.

How long to download a 1 GB file at 100 Mbps?

About 80 seconds. 1 GB = 8,000 megabits; at 100 Mbps that is 80 seconds at the theoretical maximum, longer in practice.

Data Transfer Rate Converter

Convert data transfer rates — bits and bytes per second, Kbps, Mbps, Gbps, and MB/s. Decode internet speeds and download rates.

Converters

Bits per second bps

Kilobits per second Kbps

Megabits per second Mbps

Gigabits per second Gbps

Bytes per second B/s

Kilobytes per second KB/s

Megabytes per second MB/s

Gigabytes per second GB/s

About the data transfer rate converter

The classic confusion: internet plans are sold in megabits per second (Mbps), but download managers show megabytes per second (MB/s). Since a byte is 8 bits, a "100 Mbps" connection downloads at only about 12.5 MB/s. This converter makes that division explicit.

Conversion reference

1 bps	=	1 bps	Bits per second
1 bps	=	0.001 Kbps	Kilobits per second
1 bps	=	1.0000e-6 Mbps	Megabits per second
1 bps	=	1.0000e-9 Gbps	Gigabits per second
1 bps	=	0.125 B/s	Bytes per second
1 bps	=	0.000125 KB/s	Kilobytes per second
1 bps	=	1.2500e-7 MB/s	Megabytes per second
1 bps	=	1.2500e-10 GB/s	Gigabytes per second

All conversions run entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server. Factors are exact wherever an exact definition exists.