Megabits to Kilobytes
Convert megabits (Mb) to kilobytes (KB). Both measure digital storage, and the conversion comes up in computing, storage, internet work.
The Formula
``
kilobytes = megabits Ć 125
megabits = kilobytes Ć 0.008
`
One megabit is 125 kilobytes, and one kilobyte is 0.008 megabits.
Conversion Table
| Megabits | Kilobytes |
|---|---|
| 1 Mb | 125 KB |
| 2 Mb | 250 KB |
| 5 Mb | 625 KB |
| 10 Mb | 1,250 KB |
| 25 Mb | 3,125 KB |
| 50 Mb | 6,250 KB |
| 100 Mb | 12,500 KB |
| 500 Mb | 62,500 KB |
| 1,000 Mb | 125,000 KB |
The Other Direction
| Kilobytes | Megabits |
|---|---|
| 1 KB | 0.008 Mb |
| 2 KB | 0.016 Mb |
| 5 KB | 0.04 Mb |
| 10 KB | 0.08 Mb |
| 25 KB | 0.2 Mb |
| 50 KB | 0.4 Mb |
| 100 KB | 0.8 Mb |
| 500 KB | 4 Mb |
| 1,000 KB | 8 Mb |
What Each Unit Is
Megabits (Mb) ā 1,000,000 bits. The unit internet plans are sold in ā deliberately, because it makes the number eight times larger.
Kilobytes (KB) ā 1,000 bytes in decimal usage; 1,024 bytes in the binary convention (properly a kibibyte). The ambiguity dates to early computing, where 1,024 was close enough to "kilo" to reuse the prefix.
A Sense of Scale
HD streaming needs 5 Mbit/s- 100 Mbit/s downloads at about 12.5 MB/s
- A page of plain text is about 2 KB
- A small icon is 5ā20 KB
Precision
The factor 125 is rounded. For engineering work carry more digits than the table above, and round only at the end ā rounding at each step compounds.
Watch Out For
- Mb is megabits, MB is megabytes. A 100 Mbps connection delivers roughly 12.5 MB/s, not 100.
- This converter uses decimal (1 KB = 1,000 bytes), which is what drive manufacturers and networks use. Windows reports binary, which is why a "1 TB" drive shows as 931 GB.
In Code
`javascript
const megabitToKilobyte = (value) => value * 125;
``
Where This Conversion Comes Up
- Computing
- Storage
- Internet
- Media
- Backups
How Many Decimals Do You Need?
Rounding the factor costs accuracy, and how much depends on the factor. Converting 137 Mb with the factor truncated at each decimal place:
| Decimals kept | Factor | 137 Mb becomes | Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 125 | 17,125 | ā |
| 1 | 125 | 17,125 | ā |
| 2 | 125 | 17,125 | ā |
| 3 | 125 | 17,125 | ā |
| 4 | 125 | 17,125 | ā |
The right number of significant figures is set by your input, not by the converter. If you measured megabits to three significant figures, the answer in kilobytes is only good to three ā writing more digits claims precision the measurement never had.