Convert Gbps to Mbps

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One gigabit per second is 1,000 megabits per second, so you multiply a speed in Gbps by 1,000. Enter the speed from your plan, a port or a box, and the result appears right away: 2.5 Gbps gives 2,500 Mbps. The Swap order button takes you to the reverse conversion.

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What is a gigabit per second, and what is a megabit per second?

A gigabit per second, written Gbps, is a unit of data rate: the number of bits a connection, a port or a cable carries in one second. A bit is the smallest piece of information, a single zero or one. The prefix giga means one billion, so 1 Gbps is a billion bits every second.

A megabit per second, or Mbps, stands for one million bits every second. A thousand megabits make up one gigabit. You will also see the same pair written as Gb/s and Mb/s or as Gbit/s and Mbit/s, and each of these forms means exactly the same thing.

A lowercase b in the symbol stands for bits and an uppercase B for bytes. A byte has eight bits, so 1 GB/s carries eight times as much data as 1 Gbps.

How many Mbps is 1 Gbps?

One gigabit per second is 1,000 megabits per second. To convert Gbps to Mbps, multiply the number of gigabits by 1,000: Mbps = Gbps × 1,000.

Speeds below one gigabit work the same way. A speed of 0.5 Gbps is 500 Mbps, and 0.1 Gbps is 100 Mbps. In your head, move the decimal point three places right and add zeros as needed.

The conversion helps when your plan states the speed in gigabits and a speed test reports megabits. The Mbps to Gbps converter turns megabits back into gigabits.

Coiled black USB-C cable with two plugs, each printed with 5Gbps
The 5Gbps printed on both plugs of this USB-C cable is the name that the connector formerly known as USB 3.0 received in 2023[1]. In megabits, its speed is 5,000 Mbps. Photo: Mika Baumeister, Unsplash.

Is 1 Gbps 1,000 or 1,024 Mbps?

A gigabit per second has 1,000 megabits per second. The prefixes giga and mega come from the International System of Units and mean the same with bits per second as with any other unit: a billion and a million. The SI Brochure from the BIPM, the international bureau that maintains the system, says so directly: “one kilobit represents 1000 bits and not 1024 bits”[2].

The number 1,024 belongs to the binary prefixes, which have their own names and symbols. A gibibit per second, written Gibit/s, is 1,024 mebibits per second, or Mibit/s[3]. NIST, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, also explains how 1,024 found its way into networking. Some designers of local area networks used a megabit per second to mean 1,048,576 bits, while all telecommunications engineers use it to mean one million bits[3].

This converter calculates in decimal, so 1 Gbps always gives 1,000 Mbps here.

Gbps to Mbps conversion table

The rows cover speeds from 0.1 to 1,000 Gbps. They include numbers from port names, USB connectors and Wi-Fi link rates, and each result has as many decimal places as the converter's field shows.
Speed in GbpsSame speed in Mbps
0.1 Gbps100 Mbps
0.25 Gbps250 Mbps
0.48 Gbps480 Mbps
0.5 Gbps500 Mbps
1 Gbps1,000 Mbps
1.1 Gbps1,100 Mbps
1.2 Gbps1,200 Mbps
1.25 Gbps1,250 Mbps
1.3 Gbps1,300 Mbps
1.5 Gbps1,500 Mbps
1.8 Gbps1,800 Mbps
2 Gbps2,000 Mbps
2.1 Gbps2,100 Mbps
2.4 Gbps2,400 Mbps
2.5 Gbps2,500 Mbps
3 Gbps3,000 Mbps
3.6 Gbps3,600 Mbps
4 Gbps4,000 Mbps
4.8 Gbps4,800 Mbps
5 Gbps5,000 Mbps
6 Gbps6,000 Mbps
8 Gbps8,000 Mbps
9.6 Gbps9,600 Mbps
10 Gbps10,000 Mbps
20 Gbps20,000 Mbps
25 Gbps25,000 Mbps
40 Gbps40,000 Mbps
50 Gbps50,000 Mbps
64 Gbps64,000 Mbps
80 Gbps80,000 Mbps
100 Gbps100,000 Mbps
1,000 Gbps1,000,000 Mbps

How many Mbps do Ethernet ports, USB connectors, SATA drives and Wi-Fi carry?

Port, connector and standard names give the speed in gigabits. Both columns describe the same value, first in Gbps and then in Mbps.
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch CRS309-1G-8S+IN with a blue cable in the ETH port, a ProSAFE unit above it
MikroTik describes this model as a desktop unit with one Gigabit Ethernet port and eight SFP+ ports at 10 Gbps each[4]. The port with the blue cable, labeled ETH, therefore carries 1,000 Mbps, and each SFP+ port carries 10,000 Mbps. Photo: Albert Stoynov, Unsplash.
Port, connector or standardIn GbpsSame speed in Mbps
Fast Ethernet, an older network port0.1 Gbps100 Mbps
Gigabit Ethernet, the port on a router and a computer1 Gbps1,000 Mbps
2.5GBASE-T, a multi-gigabit port2.5 Gbps2,500 Mbps
5GBASE-T, a multi-gigabit port5 Gbps5,000 Mbps
10 Gigabit Ethernet, including the 10GBASE-T port10 Gbps10,000 Mbps
USB 2.00.48 Gbps480 Mbps
USB 5Gbps, formerly USB 3.05 Gbps5,000 Mbps
USB 10Gbps10 Gbps10,000 Mbps
USB 20Gbps20 Gbps20,000 Mbps
USB 40Gbps40 Gbps40,000 Mbps
USB 80Gbps80 Gbps80,000 Mbps
USB 80Gbps in asymmetric mode, one direction120 Gbps120,000 Mbps
SATA I, a drive connector1.5 Gbps1,500 Mbps
SATA II3 Gbps3,000 Mbps
SATA III6 Gbps6,000 Mbps
Wi-Fi 6, top link rate with two spatial streams on an 80 MHz channel1.201 Gbps1,201 Mbps
Wi-Fi 6, top link rate with two spatial streams on a 160 MHz channel2.402 Gbps2,402 Mbps
Wi-Fi 7, top link rate with two spatial streams on a 320 MHz channel5.764 Gbps5,764 Mbps
Fast Ethernet raised local network speed to 100 Mbps, and Gigabit Ethernet took it to 1,000 Mbps[5]. Ports at 2.5 and 5 Gbps come from the IEEE 802.3bz standard, which the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved on September 22, 2016[6]. The IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard first defined 10 Gigabit Ethernet[7]. The USB article lists the speeds from USB 2.0 to USB 20Gbps and the connector names used since 2023[1], and the SATA article lists the three SATA generations[8]. The USB Implementers Forum announced USB 80Gbps and an asymmetric mode with 120 Gbps in one direction in October 2022[9]. The Wi-Fi rates are the top values from each standard's rate table, multiplied by two spatial streams. With Wi-Fi 6, one stream gives 600.5 Mbps on an 80 MHz channel. On a 160 MHz channel, that value rises to 1,201 Mbps[10]. With Wi-Fi 7, one stream on a 320 MHz channel gives 2,882 Mbps[11]. The Pi Hut lists the SupTronics X1501 board for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 with “2.5GbE for high-speed networking up to 2.5Gbps”, which is 2,500 Mbps[12].
Small grey router with two antennas, one of them printed with WiFi 6, a laptop in the background
The WiFi 6 printed on this router’s antenna names the standard it uses. The specifications of a given model tell you how much it can handle. Photo: User_Pascal, Unsplash.

How many megabytes per second do gigabits give?

Connection speed is given in bits, while a download window shows it in bytes. A byte has eight bits, so you divide the number of megabits by eight.
SpeedIn MbpsIn MB/s
1 Gbps1,000 Mbps125 MB/s
2.5 Gbps2,500 Mbps312.5 MB/s
5 Gbps5,000 Mbps625 MB/s
10 Gbps10,000 Mbps1,250 MB/s
20 Gbps20,000 Mbps2,500 MB/s
40 Gbps40,000 Mbps5,000 MB/s
The data transfer rate converter does the same conversion for any speed in gigabits, and the Mbps to MB/s converter does it for a speed in megabits. The GB to MB converter handles file sizes themselves.

Which gigabit speed notations does this converter accept?

The field accepts and converts each of these notations, so you can paste a speed exactly as you have it: with a decimal point or comma, with its unit, with a port name or with the label copied from a speed test. The table shows what the converter does with each entry, and the converter calculated the results itself.
What you typeWhat the converter showsHow we read it
2.52500 MbpsA number on its own is a speed in gigabits per second, so we multiply it by 1,000 straight away.
2,52500 MbpsA comma before a single digit is a decimal comma, as in German or French notation, so this is two and a half gigabits.
10 Gbps10000 MbpsA unit pasted together with the number does no harm: we take the number and skip the unit.
2,500 Mbps2500 MbpsA comma before three digits separates thousands, so the field stores 2.5 Gbps and a note under it explains the change.
1.25 GB/s10000 MbpsAn uppercase B stands for bytes, and a byte has eight bits, so the field stores this speed as 10 Gbps.
2.500 Mbit/s2.5 MbpsOn this English page, a dot before three digits is a decimal point, as in 2.5, so the field stores 0.0025 Gbps. A note under the field shows the other possible reading, 2500. Type two and a half thousand as 2500.
1 Gbit1000 MbpsA unit without “/s” is read as gigabits per second, because this field measures connection speed.
2.5 GbE2500 MbpsWe read the port name 2.5 GbE as 2.5 Gbps, because that is the speed of a port with this name.
5 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 1)5000 MbpsWe skip the numbers in the standard name in brackets and take only the speed that stands before the unit.
Download 941.2 Mbps941.2 MbpsA speed test result copied with its label: we take the number before the unit and store it in the field as 0.9412 Gbps.
1 gbps to mbps1000 MbpsA query copied from a search engine: the unit without a number is the one you convert to, so the field keeps 1 Gbps.
1 Gibit/s1073.742 MbpsA gibibit is a binary unit, larger than a gigabit, so the field stores this speed as 1.073742 Gbps.
0.00050.5 MbpsEven a tiny value comes out exactly: half a megabit per second, with no rounding to zero.

How do you compare your connection speed with a port and Wi-Fi?

Your plan, the network port and your phone each state a speed on their own, some in gigabits and some in megabits. The steps take you from the number in your plan to the value you will see in a speed test and in a download window.

  1. Convert the speed in your plan to megabits

    Type the number from your plan or your bill into the field. A 1 Gbps connection gives 1,000 Mbps, and a 2 Gbps connection gives 2,000 Mbps.

  2. Check how much the port can carry

    A port carries at most the speed in its name. With a 2 Gbps connection, a Gigabit Ethernet port carries 1,000 Mbps. The whole connection only fits through a 2.5GBASE-T port, which carries 2,500 Mbps.

  3. Check the Wi-Fi link rate

    The Wi-Fi link rate is the radio speed between your device and the router. With Wi-Fi 6 and two spatial streams on an 80 MHz channel, it reaches at most 1,201 Mbps[10]. Over such a link, a 2 Gbps connection delivers at most 1,201 Mbps.

  4. Subtract the headers before you judge a speed test

    A speed test measures only the data, while every frame also carries headers. On a 1 Gbps port, the test result is therefore at most 949 Mbps, and at most 941 Mbps when the connection uses TCP timestamps.

  5. Convert megabits to megabytes

    A download window shows speed in bytes. Take the number from the second field to the Mbps to MB/s converter, and you get the value in the same form your browser shows.

Convert other units to Megabits/s

MB/s to Mbpskbps to Mbps

Convert Gigabits/s to other units

Gbps to Tbps

Sources

  1. USB — Wikipedia
  2. The International System of Units (SI), 9th edition — Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
  3. Prefixes for binary multiples — National Institute of Standards and Technology
  4. CRS309-1G-8S+IN — MikroTik
  5. Gigabit Ethernet — Wikipedia
  6. IEEE P802.3bz 2.5/5GBASE-T Task Force — IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group
  7. 10 Gigabit Ethernet — Wikipedia
  8. SATA — Wikipedia
  9. USB-IF Announces Publication of New USB4 Specification to Enable USB 80Gbps Performance — USB Implementers Forum
  10. Wi-Fi 6 — Wikipedia
  11. Wi-Fi 7 — Wikipedia
  12. SupTronics X1501 Dual Ethernet & Dual NVMe I/O Board for CM5 — The Pi Hut
  13. Ethernet frame — Wikipedia
  14. RFC 791: Internet Protocol — Internet Engineering Task Force
  15. RFC 7323: TCP Extensions for High Performance — Internet Engineering Task Force
  16. Wi-Fi classes explained — Keenetic

Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.

Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team

Frequently asked questions about Gbps and Mbps

Why does a speed test on a 1 Gbps connection show about 940 Mbps?

A speed test counts only the file data, while the cable also carries headers that get the data to the right computer. An Ethernet frame takes up 1,538 bytes on the wire, and the data fits into 1,500 of them[13]. The frame alone brings the data rate down to 975 Mbps. Of those 1,500 bytes, 20 go to the IP header[14] and another 20 to the TCP header. When the connection uses timestamps, the TCP header grows by 12 bytes[15]. That leaves 1,448 bytes of file data out of 1,538, or 94.15%. On a 1 Gbps connection this gives 941 Mbps, and on a 100 Mbps port it gives 94 Mbps.

How many Mbps does a router labeled AX3000 or AX1800 give?

The number in a router's class name is the rounded sum of the top link rates in its two bands. Keenetic, a router maker, breaks AX3000 down into 2,402 Mbps in the 5 GHz band and 574 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. AX1800 breaks down the same way into 1,201 and 574 Mbps[16]. The same maker points out that older devices, or devices with fewer spatial streams, connect at lower speeds.

How many Mbps are in a terabit per second?

One million. A terabit per second is 1,000 Gbps, and each gigabit is 1,000 Mbps, so 1 Tbps gives 1,000,000 Mbps[2].

Arteon free tool screenshot: Convert Gbps to Mbps

Have a question or a suggestion?

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