You may have stumbled upon terms that are so similar they’re a little challenging to differentiate. Examples of these terms are Mbps and MBps, which you might have already seen in instances where something is referring to data transfers, downloads, uploads, or internet speeds.
But how do these two terms differ from each other? In this article, we will explore the key distinctions between Mbps and MBps and explain how and where each term is used.
What is Mbps and MBps?
Mbps and MBps are measurements that indicate broadband speeds or data transfer rates. To understand these measurement speeds, you must first know what these terms stand for, starting with the words “bit” and “byte.”
A “bit” is the basic unit of information in digital communications. The letters “Mb” in “Mbps” stand for “Megabits,” which means one million bits; hence, the prefix ” mega,” which is typically used to represent one million (1,000,000).
Meanwhile, a “byte” consists of eight bits representing a single character, a number, or a small instruction. The letters “MB” in “MBps” means “Megabytes,” which equates to one million bytes. This distinction between bits and bytes is crucial for understanding how fast your internet connection can transfer data.
Mbps vs MBps: Which is faster in data transfer?
Since Mbps and MBps look very similar, we need to differentiate the two. Mbps (with an uppercase “M” and a lowercase “bps”) refers to Megabits per second, which refers to millions of bits being transferred each second. On the other hand, MBps (with both “M” and “B” in uppercase and “ps” in lowercase) refers to Megabytes per second, which refers to millions of bytes being transferred each second.
So which is faster? Since a byte comprises 8 bits, a higher Mbps translates to a faster data transfer rate but in smaller chunks of information. This means an MBPS connection can transfer data eight times faster than a Mbps connection with the same numerical value.
Mbps vs MBps: What do they measure?
While these two measurements are related, they typically have different applications:
-
Mbps (Megabits per second):
Megabits per second measures the speed of data transfer in millions of bits per second. This unit of measurement is commonly used to indicate internet speeds. Internet service providers usually present their subscription plans using Mbps to denote internet download and upload speeds.
-
MBps (Megabytes per second):
Megabytes per second, in contrast, measures the amount of data being transferred or the file size being moved in millions of bytes per second. While this measurement can also signify how fast data can be downloaded from the Internet, it can also denote the rate at which data is being copied or moved from one location to another, such as between two folders or from a computer to an external drive.
Knowing Mbps vs MBps
Mbps and MBps are both units of measurement that are used to represent the speed of transferring data. They look very similar but can be used differently for specific purposes.
It’s essential to know their differences to help you make an informed decision regarding data transfer speed. Such decisions may include purchasing a subscription plan depending on its speed, choosing a data transfer method to gauge how fast the whole process would take, or even knowing the file size in MBps and your internet speed in Mbps to help you estimate download times.
