Kbps to MiB/s

1 kilobit per second equals 0.0001192092896 mebibytes per second (rounded).

1 kilobit per second = 0.0001192092896 mebibytes per second

How to convert kilobits per second to mebibytes per second

To convert kilobits per second to mebibytes per second, multiply the number of kilobits per second by 0.0001192092896. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply mebibytes per second by 8,388.608.

mebibytes per second = kilobits per second × 0.0001192092896

Example: 10 kilobits per second = 0.001192092896 mebibytes per second.

Network speeds are quoted in bits per second (lowercase b), while file sizes use bytes (uppercase B). Divide Mbps by 8 for MB/s.

About these units

Kilobit Per Second (kbps)

ComputingCurrent unit

1,000 bits per second. Used for voice calls and low-rate links.

Kilobit rates belong to the age of telephone wires. In 1962 AT&T introduced the Bell 103A, a full-duplex modem that sent 300 bit/s over ordinary phone lines, and by 1976 the Bell 212A had reached 1,200 bit/s. Speeds then climbed in steps through the 1990s, until the V.90 standard approved in 1998 offered 56 kbit/s downstream, with 33.6 kbit/s going the other way. That ceiling defined the dial-up era for many home users.

A kilobit per second is 1,000 bit/s, using the standard SI meaning of kilo, and it is still the natural unit for anything lightweight. A digital voice channel using PCM takes 64 kbit/s. MP3 files are often encoded at 128 kbit/s as a mid-range setting, with 320 kbit/s the highest the format supports. Divide by eight to get bytes: 8 kbit/s is 1 kB/s, so a 56 kbit/s modem moves about 7 kB/s, and fetching a 1 MB file over it would take roughly two and a half minutes.

1 kilobit per second = 1,000 bits per second (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Modem (Bell 103, 212A, V.90 history); Wikipedia: Bit rate (voice and MP3 rates); Wikipedia: Kilobit

Mebibyte Per Second (MiB/s)

ComputingCurrent unit

1,048,576 bytes per second (8.39 Mbps). Used by some operating systems and storage tools.

Mebibyte is one of the newest words in computing. In December 1998 the IEC approved names for binary multiples, published in 1999 as an amendment to IEC 60027-2. Each keeps the first two letters of its SI counterpart and adds bi for binary, so mebi stands for 2²⁰. The aim was to stop mega meaning 10⁶ in telecommunications and storage but 2²⁰ in memory, a split that left room for incompatibility.

A mebibyte per second is 1,048,576 bytes per second, about 8.39 Mbit/s, so it is roughly 4.9 percent larger than 1 MB/s. Some operating systems and tools divide by 1,024 and then print the result with a plain MB label, so one program may show 11.9 for a transfer that another shows as 12.5. For example, a 100 Mbit/s link carries about 11.92 MiB/s at most. The IEEE chose to keep SI meanings in its own standards, allowing base-two use of mega only when explicitly noted.

1 mebibyte per second = 8,388,608 bits per second (exactly).

Sources: NIST: Prefixes for binary multiples; Wikipedia: Data-rate units; Wikipedia: Megabyte

Related conversions

See all data transfer rate units.