Internet speed and consumption: megabits and MegaBytes

We often confuse megabits per second and MegaBytes, or gigabits per second and GigaBytes. These are key Internet metrics measuring speed and volume. Let’s see how they are related.

1/3 What is the difference between megabits per seconds (mbps) and MegaBytes (MB)?

mbps means megabits per second and is used to express download and upload speeds.
MB means MegaBytes and refers to the amount of data of data transferred / consumed or a file size.
The prefix mega refers to “thousand”
The two are related as follows: 1 Byte of information is encoded in 8 bits.

So if the speed of the connectivity is, say, 8 megabits per second, that means there are 1 MB consumed every second.

As there are 60 seconds in 1 minute, such as speed will lead to a consumption of 60 MB in 1 minute.

As there are 60 minutes in 1 hour, such a speed will lead to a consumption of 3,600 MB in 1 hour.

To do a conversion for a particular speed or volume, you can check Google’s converter.

2/3 What is the speed on Orange network and how can I predict my consumption?

Orange has significantly invested in its mobile network by deploying 4G-LTE sites and fiber to connect the sites together and to the Internet. Thanks to these investments, customers can enjoy the highest mobile data speed in Liberia.

However, the speed might vary depending on the quality of the coverage (the indoor coverage is less powerful than outdoor), the number of customers concurrently using the same site, the type of usage they have, and the type of device the customer is using.

Taking into account all these factors, the speed on the 4G network might vary between 5 mbps and 70 mbps, or even more.

The speed on the 3G network might vary between 1 mbps and 10 mbps.
To check your speed, you can download the most famous speed test application: speedtest by Ookla.

If your speed is 40 mbps, and that you are downloading or uploading a heavy file (video, photo in high resolution…), then you will consume 5 MB per second, hence 300 MB per minute, which mean that 1 GB will be consumed in approximately 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

3/3 How long will it take to download / upload different files?

Download times will vary based the network speed and the file on file size and you Mbps.

Here’s a look at common media file types and their average sizes, as well as how long it will take to download
them based on various Internet speeds. These times are approximate, as file sizes and download speeds will vary.

File type	File size	Speed: 3 mbps	Speed: 10 mbps	Speed; 25 mbps	Speed: 50 mbps
Web page	1 MB	3 sec	< 1 sec	<1 sec	<1 sec
e-book	3 MB	8 sec	2.5 sec	1 sec	<1 sec
mp3 song high res photo	5 MB	13 sec	4 sec	1.5 sec	<1 sec
5 mins low res video	20 MB	53 sec	16 sec	6.5 sec	3 sec
1 hour low res TV show	1 GB	44 min	14 min	5 min	2.5 min
2 hours high res movie	12 GB	9 hours	2.5 hours	1 hour	32 min