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A megabit (Mb) is a unit of digital information, equal to one million bits (106 bits). The plural form is megabits.
While it's a fundamental unit of data, it's most commonly used to describe the speed of an internet connection.
When you shop for a broadband plan, the internet speed advertised by providers is measured in megabits per second (Mbps).
This metric defines your data transfer rate—essentially, how many million bits of data your connection can download or upload every second.
For example, a 25 Mbps download speed is great for basic browsing and streaming HD video on one device.
However, a faster plan of 100+ Mbps is better for a household with multiple people streaming 4K video, online gaming, and downloading large files at the same time.
A common point of confusion is the difference between a megabit (Mb) and a megabyte (MB).
The key is to notice the difference between the lowercase 'b' (bit) and the uppercase 'B' (byte).
Think of it this way: a bit is like a single letter, while a byte is like a complete word. Since it takes eight bits to make one byte, a megabyte (MB) is eight times larger than a megabit (Mb).
This is why they're used for different things:
In the world of networking, the "mega" prefix in megabit is simple: it means exactly 1,000,000 bits (106 bits). This is based on the decimal system.
However, you might see "mega" used differently for computer memory or file storage, where it can sometimes mean the binary equivalent of 1,048,576 bits (220 bits).
To avoid confusion, the term mebibit (Mib) was created for the binary value. Still, for measuring your internet speed, megabit (Mb) is the universal standard.