Megabits per second to megabytes per second converter
Convertersconversion pair
Convert Mbps to MB/s instantly: 1 Mbps is 0.125 MB/s. The divide-by-eight that explains why your plan and your download manager disagree.
the plan says megabits, the download says megabytes, and eight is the referee.
work surface
Math, not advice — results are indicative.Read the disclaimer.
pro tips
Divide by 8 first, then worry about overhead. Wi-Fi and protocol taxes come after the unit conversion, not before.
A 100 Mbps plan is about 12.5 MB/s, which is why a 1 GB download feels slower than the name suggests.
If a sales page mixes Mbps and MB/s in the same table, convert everything to one unit before comparing.
what it does
One megabit per second is 0.125 megabytes per second, because a byte is eight bits. Multiply by 0.125, or divide by eight, and the plan's number becomes the one a download manager shows.
This is the conversion behind the oldest broadband complaint: a 500 Mbps line downloads at roughly 62.5 MB/s, which is excellent and still looks like a fraction of the advert. The units are different, not the speed.
Quick examples: 100 Mbps is 12.5 MB/s, 250 Mbps is 31.25 MB/s, and 1,000 Mbps is 125 MB/s. A 5 GB file at 100 Mbps takes about 400 seconds before overhead, which is the number to use when someone asks if the connection is fast enough.
Type a value and the widget answers in MB/s live. Click the result to copy it, or hit swap to go back from megabytes to megabits.
quick answers
Why do ISPs sell megabits instead of megabytes?
Because the number is eight times larger and the industry settled on bits long before downloads were measured in bytes. The speed is the same; the unit is just smaller.
Is 100 Mbps fast enough for 4K streaming?
Yes. A 4K stream typically needs 15–25 Mbps, so 100 Mbps leaves plenty of room for other devices. The bottleneck is usually Wi-Fi, not the line.
Does this include network overhead?
No. The converter shows the raw unit conversion. Real throughput is lower because of headers, Wi-Fi and server limits.