---
title: What’s the Difference Between Megabits and Megabytes?
description: "## What's the Difference? If you're looking at your internet plan or downloading a file and wondering why the numbers don’t seem to match up — you’re not alone. The terms **megabits (Mb)** and **megabytes (MB)** look and sound similar,…"
url: "https://quickline.co.uk/knowledge/whats-the-difference-between-megabits-and-megabytes/"
updated: "2026-08-11"
category: Technical Support
---

# What’s the Difference Between Megabits and Megabytes?

## What's the Difference?

If you're looking at your internet plan or downloading a file and wondering why the numbers don’t seem to match up — you’re not alone. The terms **megabits (Mb)** and **megabytes (MB)** look and sound similar, but they mean different things.

Here’s the key difference:

| Term | Stands For | Used When Talking About... |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Megabit** | **Mb** | Internet **speed** |
| **Megabyte** | **MB** | File or **download size** |

**Megabits per Second** - This measures **internet speed**, and you'll see it in:

- **Internet speed tests** (e.g., Speedtest.net, Fast.com)
  → *"Download speed = 497 Mbps and Upload speed = 503Mbps"*
- **Broadband Provider advertisements or plans**
  → *"Up to 300 Mbps download!"*

**Megabytes per Second** - This measures **file download or transfer speed**, and you'll see it in:

- **Download progress bars** (Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, etc.)
  → *"Downloading at 80 MB/s"*
- **Web browser downloads**
  → *"Downloaded 200 MB in 5 seconds"*

## Quick Tip

To get **megabytes per second (MBps)** from your internet speed in **megabits per second (Mbps)**, just divide by **8**.

**Example:**

Your online speed test shows that your PC is getting **800 megabits per second (Mbps)** of internet speed, but your game file is downloading at **100 megabytes per second (MBps)**. At first, this can look like a mismatch — the numbers are different, and the terms **Mbps** and **MBps** look almost the same.

However, you're actually getting the **full expected speed**.

**Remember** **1 megabyte (MB) = 8 megabits (Mb)**
So, if you divide 800 Mbps by 8, you get **100 MBps** as the theoretical max download rate.