Data Rate Converter
Convert between bit rates and byte rates, from bits per second up to gigabytes per second.
How Unit Conversion Works
Unit conversion expresses the same physical quantity in a different unit of measure. A length stays the length it was; only the number and the label change, because each unit is defined as a fixed multiple of the same underlying quantity.
Every value here is converted through a base unit: the input is multiplied by its factor to reach the base, then divided by the target factor. Two steps, so a category with fifteen units needs fifteen numbers rather than two hundred pairs.
- Pick a category first. The unit lists and the reference table below both follow the category you select.
- Type into either field. Both are editable, so the conversion runs in whichever direction you are working, and it updates live with no button to press.
- Use Swap to turn the conversion around. The values move with their units, so the equation on screen stays true.
- Copy puts the plain result on the clipboard, without a thousands separator, so it can be pasted straight into a spreadsheet or a shell.
- The line under the field shows the formula that was applied, so the conversion can be checked by hand.
Temperature scales have different zero points, so a single factor cannot express them. Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin and Rankine are converted through Celsius with an offset as well as a ratio, which is why 0 °C is 32 °F rather than 0 °F.
- A
kibibyteis 1024 bytes, akilobyteis 1000. Both are offered, because storage vendors and operating systems disagree about which one they mean. - Data rates are based on
bits, storage onbytes. That factor of eight is why a 1 Gbps line downloads at about 125 MB/s.
Results are shown to six significant digits, switching to exponential notation beyond a million or below a thousandth. Calculations use double-precision floating point, so a conversion chained through several units can drift in the last digits.
Reference
15 units
| Unit | Type | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| Bit per Second (bps) | network | Basic data rate unit |
| Kilobit per Second (Kbps) | network | Dial-up internet |
| Megabit per Second (Mbps) | network | Broadband internet |
| Gigabit per Second (Gbps) | network | Fiber internet, LAN |
| Terabit per Second (Tbps) | network | Backbone networks |
| Kibibit per Second (Kibps) | binary | General purpose |
| Mebibit per Second (Mibps) | binary | General purpose |
| Gibibit per Second (Gibps) | binary | General purpose |
| Byte per Second (B/s) | storage | File transfer rates |
| Kilobyte per Second (KB/s) | storage | Download speeds |
| Megabyte per Second (MB/s) | storage | SSD, network transfers |
| Gigabyte per Second (GB/s) | storage | RAM, high-speed storage |
| Kibibyte per Second (KiB/s) | binary storage | Binary file transfer |
| Mebibyte per Second (MiB/s) | binary storage | Memory bandwidth |
| Gibibyte per Second (GiB/s) | binary storage | High-speed storage |