Gigabits to Kilobits (Gb to kb)
1 gigabit equals 1,000,000 kilobits exactly.
How to convert gigabits to kilobits
To convert gigabits to kilobits, multiply the number of gigabits by 1,000,000. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply kilobits by 0.000001.
kilobits = gigabits × 1,000,000
Example: 10 gigabits = 10,000,000 kilobits.
Decimal prefixes (kB, MB, GB) are powers of 1,000; binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) are powers of 1,024. Storage makers use decimal; Windows reports binary but labels it GB.
About these units
Gigabit (Gb)
1,000,000,000 bits (125 MB).
Gigabit is one billion bits, or 125 million bytes. In the IEC notation it is written Gbit, while IEEE 1541-2002 recommends Gb, which may be confused with GB for gigabyte. The binary counterpart, the gibibit, is 2 to the thirtieth bits. Network links and fiber are usually rated in gigabits per second, because data transfer rates are measured in decimal SI multiples.
Memory is where gigabits and binary habits collide. Chip capacity is often given in binary multiples using the ambiguous G prefix rather than the IEC Gi, so a DRAM chip advertised as 1 GB has 2 to the thirtieth bytes. The Wikipedia article on the bit says this was still causing difficulty for software designers as of 2022. When you see a gigabit rate, divide by eight for gigabytes per second.
1 gigabit = 125,000,000 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Gigabit; Wikipedia: Bit
Kilobit (kb)
1,000 bits (125 bytes). Used for data rates and sizes in telecommunications.
Kilobit means a thousand bits, and in telecommunications data rates are usually measured in decimal SI multiples. The article on the bit gives a handy example: a channel capacity of 8 kbit/s is 1 kB/s, so dividing kilobits by eight gives kilobytes. The binary counterpart, the kibibit, is 1,024 bits, but it is seldom used.
Symbols cause trouble. The IEC standard says to write kbit, while IEEE 1541-2002 recommends a lowercase b, giving kb, and the lowercase b may be confused with capital B for byte. On this site a kilobit is 125 bytes. The history behind it is that of the bit itself: Ralph Hartley proposed a logarithmic information measure in 1928, and Claude Shannon first used the word in 1948, crediting John W. Tukey.
1 kilobit = 125 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Bit; Wikipedia: Kilobit
Related conversions
- Kilobits to gigabits (reverse)
- Gigabits to bytes
- Gigabits to kilobytes
- Gigabits to megabytes
- Gigabits to gigabytes
- Gigabits to terabytes
- Gigabits to bits
- Gigabits to petabytes
- Gigabits to kibibytes
- Gigabits to mebibytes
- Gigabits to gibibytes
- Gigabits to tebibytes
- Gigabits to megabits
- Bytes to kilobits
- Kilobytes to kilobits
- Megabytes to kilobits
- Gigabytes to kilobits
- Terabytes to kilobits
- Bits to kilobits
- Petabytes to kilobits
- Kibibytes to kilobits
- Mebibytes to kilobits
- Gibibytes to kilobits
- Tebibytes to kilobits
- Megabits to kilobits
See all digital storage units.