Does a 20 Mbps connection mean 2.50 or 2.56 MB/s download speeds?

If my internet connection speed is clocked at 20 Mbps, what does that actually translate to in terms of download speed in MB/s?

a) 20 Mbps (20x1000=20,000 kbps / 8) = 2,500 KB/s = 2.50 MB/s

b) 20 Mbps (20x1024=20,480 kbps / 8) = 2,560 KB/s = 2.56 MB/s

Could someone please clarify which of these two calculations is the correct way to figure this out, option a or option b?

Since we’re all gathered here to discuss the nuances of rounding, I’d actually appreciate it if a few of you could weigh in with your perspectives.

Given that our conversation centers on converting Mbit units into KBbyte values, I know how easily this can cause confusion for many people.

Look, Jack Alvarez, I’m just going to lay this out for you, so take it for what it's worth.
http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/...gabit-kilobit/

Michael Diaz5 said:If my internet speed is clocked at 20 Mbps, what does that actually look like in terms of download speed in MB/s?

a) 20 Mbps (20x1000=20,000 kbps / 8) = 2,500 KB/s = 2.50 MB/s

b) 20 Mbps (20x1024=20,480 kbps / 8) = 2,560 KB/s = 2.56 MB/s

Can someone please tell me which one of these is actually correct, option a or b?

US ISPs always stick to the 1000 base.
Regardless, ever since the late nineties, you’ve gotta use the 1000 base whenever you're dealing with standard SI units—that's pretty much why we even have those newer binary-based measurements like KiB or GiB now.

I’d say that answer definitely falls under option A.

Jack Alvarez said:The correct answer is under A.

Jack Alvarez, can you actually back up your claim with some real logic, much like Alex Johnson4 did?

And could you both weigh in on this specific conversion chart found here: http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/...gabit-kilobit/
regarding the results after you plug in the numbers—specifically, how many KBajta does 20 Mbita actually equal, given that the table claims the following:

20 megabits = 2,560 kilobytes = 2.56 MB

Michael Diaz5 said:Jack Alvarez, can you actually back up your answer like Alex Johnson4 did?

And maybe both of you could weigh in on this table from the link here: http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/...gabit-kilobit/
regarding what happens after you plug in the numbers—specifically, how much KBajta does 20 Mbps actually equal, since the chart claims:

20 megabits = 2,560 kilobytes = 2.56 MB

Look, you really need to pull from some more legit sources than this. I’m talking about, say, SI / IEEE standards.

The whole base-1024 thing was never part of the SI nomenclature. Sure, you might see it in old ANSI specs, but even those ditched it ages ago. That's why these "newer" prefixes were brought in. They might confuse people more, sure, but they actually reflect how things work in the real world.

Telecommunications is its own beast entirely; if I recall correctly, the base-1024 logic was never used there, not even going back to basic serial ports. On the flip side, using base-1024 today mostly only makes sense when you're talking about memory modules (and even then, it's debatable). For anything else, it's just nonsense because it doesn't align with how computers actually function or how data moves through communications.

Also, the way people use the lowercase "b" is pretty questionable too.

Michael Diaz5 said:20 megabits = 2,560 kilobytes = 2.56 MB

20 megabits = 2,560 kilobytes = 2.5 MB
If you take those 2,560 KB and plug them into your chart—or honestly, any standard calculator—you’re going to end up with 2.5 MB, because 2,560 divided by 1,024 equals 2.5, not 2.56.
The whole reason why internet service providers and hard drive manufacturers love to round everything down to 1,000 is really just a clever bit of marketing rather than anything to do with actual data speeds; I mean, anyone who tinkers with tech knows that a single kilobyte is actually 1,024 bytes (or 2 to the power of 10). Marketing departments love to claim that the prefix "kilo" comes from the decimal system representing exactly 1,000... which explains why when you go out and buy a 1TB hard drive from a place like Best Buy, you don't actually see 1,000 GB of usable space, but closer to 931 GB.

I want to extend my thanks to Bill Gates and Old Hickory for providing such detailed and meaningful responses; I certainly accept their points, as they are backed by entirely sound arguments. 👍