Posted 27 July 2006 - 08:07 AM
Yes: 1 byte is 8 bits.
Generally everything computer related is measured in bits, except file-size related stuff, which is measured in bytes.
Bit is shortened with a small b, while byte is shortened with a capital B.
When you download a file on the internet the download speed is reported in bytes. So if you somehow got a 200 MB/s download speed then it is 200 Megabytes per second.
The 100 Mbps (Megabits per second) reported in the system tray is the max throughput of the ethernet port on your computer. Dividing it by 8 you get the throughput in bytes instead, which is 12.5 MBps (Megabytes per second). Your cable connections is 3 Mbps (Megabits per second) or 375 kBps (Kilobyte per second), which isn't even close to your ethernet port throughput.
The kilo and mega and so on are the standard SI prefixes you learned about in school.
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