Despite the fact that they’re similar words with similar abbreviations, megabits (Mb) and megabytes (MB) are different units of measurement. Here’s what they measure, and when they’re used.

尽管它们是具有相似缩写的相似词，但兆位(Mb)和兆字节(MB)是不同的度量单位。 这是它们测量的时间以及使用它们的时间。

位与字节 (Bits vs. Bytes)

If you’ve shopped for a plan from an internet service provider (ISP) recently, you might have noticed that the company promoted its broadband speeds in terms of mega- or gigabits per second. On the other hand, most mobile or internet plans with data caps measure your maximum usage in terms of mega- or gigabytes.

如果您最近购买了互联网服务提供商(ISP)的计划，则可能已经注意到该公司以每秒兆或千兆位的速度提高了宽带速度 。 另一方面，大多数具有数据上限的移动或互联网计划都以兆字节或千兆字节为单位来衡量您的最大使用量。

You might think these two figures are the same. However, a “bit” and a “byte” are distinct units of measurement that are used for different things. Each byte is comprised of eight bits. Therefore, one megabyte is equal to eight megabits, eight megabytes are equal to 64 megabits, and so on.

您可能会认为这两个数字是相同的。 但是，“位”和“字节”是用于不同事物的不同度量单位。 每个字节由八位组成。 因此，一兆字节等于八兆比特，八兆字节等于64兆比特，依此类推。

Furthermore, they are abbreviated differently. A bit is abbreviated using a lowercase “b” (Mb or Mbit), while a byte is abbreviated with an uppercase “B” (MB). When denoting these in terms of speed, megabits per second is abbreviated as “Mbps,” while megabytes per second is abbreviated as “MB/s.”

此外，它们的缩写也不同。 用小写字母“ b”(Mb或Mbit)缩写一个位，用大写字母“ B”(MB)缩写一个字节。 当用速度表示这些时，每秒的兆位缩写为“ Mbps”，而每秒的兆位缩写为“ MB / s”。

将位转换为字节 (Converting Bits to Bytes)

To illustrate the difference better, let’s use a real-world scenario. Say you’ve recently subscribed to a fiber broadband connection that promises maximum internet speeds of 400 Mbps. You’re about to download a video file that’s 800 megabytes. Assuming your internet is working perfectly and its servers are fast, how long would it take to complete this download?

为了更好地说明差异，让我们使用一个真实的场景。 假设您最近已订购了光纤宽带连接，该连接承诺最高400 Mbps的互联网速度 。 您将要下载一个800 MB的视频文件。 假设您的互联网运行正常并且其服务器运行速度很快，那么完成下载需要多长时间？

As 1 megabyte equals 8 megabits, we divide 400 Mbps by 8 to get a maximum download speed of 50 MB/s. Therefore, it would take 16 seconds to finish downloading your file.

由于1兆字节等于8兆位，因此我们将400 Mbps除以8得到的最大下载速度为50 MB / s。 因此，完成文件下载将需要16秒。

用钻头测量 (Measuring with the Bit)

Bits are primarily used by ISPs to measure bandwidth. These numbers are referred to as “bit rates.”

ISP主要使用位来测量带宽 。 这些数字称为“比特率”。

Many people wonder why the download time for a file rarely matches the promised bitrate of their connections. This is due to the difference between bandwidth and speed. Your network’s bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data it can transfer within a certain period of time, like 1 second.

许多人想知道为什么文件的下载时间很少匹配其连接的承诺比特率。 这是由于带宽和速度之间的差异。 您网络的带宽是指它在特定时间段(例如1秒)内可以传输的最大数据量。

On the other hand, your network’s speed is the actual transfer rate of data from an online server to your device, or vice versa. This can vary significantly between providers, connection types, and locations.

另一方面，网络的速度就是从在线服务器到设备的实际数据传输速率，反之亦然。 提供程序，连接类型和位置之间的差异可能很大。

Therefore, two households might both have gigabit connections, but because they’re located in different cities, their down- and upload speeds might vary. While their “potential” internet speeds might be the same, they’re likely very different in reality.

因此，两个家庭可能都具有千兆连接，但是由于它们位于不同的城市，因此它们的下载和上传速度可能会有所不同。 尽管它们的“潜在”互联网速度可能相同，但现实中它们却可能大不相同。

使用字节 (Using the Byte)

Bytes are used for pretty much everything related to file size and storage. All forms of storage—from solid-state drives, to cloud services, like Dropbox—are referred to in terms of byte capacity. The files on your computer are also measured in bytes.

字节几乎用于与文件大小和存储有关的所有事情。 从固态驱动器到云服务(如Dropbox)的所有形式的存储均以字节容量表示。 您计算机上的文件也以字节为单位。

The reason we use bytes instead of bits to measure files goes back to the earliest days of computing. Each bit can have a value of either zero or one. When combined, they make a byte, which was the minimum amount of memory a computer could read and process. Each byte would then correspond to a text character.

我们使用字节而不是位来衡量文件的原因可以追溯到最早的计算时代。 每个位的值可以为零或一。 当组合在一起时，它们形成一个字节，这是计算机可以读取和处理的最小内存量。 每个字节将对应一个文本字符。

Since then, files have become more complex, and the individual byte has become an incredibly small unit of measurement. Most of the files on your computer are at least a kilobyte, or 1,024 bytes.

从那时起，文件变得更加复杂，单个字节已成为一个非常小的测量单位。 您计算机上的大多数文件至少有一个千字节或1,024字节。

Mega，Giga，Tera等 (Mega, Giga, Tera, and More)

When measuring data in terms of bits or bytes, it’s essential to know the following commonly used unit prefixes:

以位或字节为单位测量数据时，必须了解以下常用的单位前缀：

• 1,024 kilobytes = 1 megabyte1,024兆字节= 1兆字节
• 1,024 megabytes = 1 gigabyte1,024兆字节= 1千兆字节
• 1,024 gigabytes = 1 terabyte1,024 GB = 1 TB

(This is actually the traditional binary form—according to the International System of Units, one megabyte is in fact 1000 kilobytes, a gigabyte is in fact 1000 megabytes, and so on. Different devices and software programs don’t always share the same definition.)

(这实际上是传统的二进制形式- 根据国际单位制 ，一个兆字节实际上是1000兆字节，一个千兆字节实际上是1000兆字节，依此类推。不同的设备和软件程序并不总是共享相同的定义)

Most hardware is measured up to terabytes, while most connection speeds are measured up to gigabits.

大多数硬件的测量最高可达TB，而大多数连接速度的测量最高可达Gb。

It’s also handy to know some quick conversions for the numbers used for internet plans. Below are some useful figures for measuring your potential maximum download speed:

知道一些用于互联网计划的数字的快速转换也很方便。 以下是一些有用的数据，可用来衡量您可能的最大下载速度：

• 25 megabits per second = 3.125 megabytes per second25兆比特/秒= 3.125兆字节/秒
• 100 megabits per second = 12.5 megabytes per second每秒100兆比特=每秒12.5兆字节
• 1 gigabit per second = 125 megabytes per second1吉比特每秒= 125兆字节每秒

Remember to always be wary about the bandwidth promised by ISPs. When in doubt, search online to find out what the average internet speeds are in your area.

记住要始终对ISP承诺的带宽保持警惕。 如有疑问，请在线搜索以查找您所在地区的平均互联网速度。

翻译自: https://www.howtogeek.com/685454/whats-the-difference-between-a-megabit-and-a-megabyte/