F5F Stay Refreshed Power Users Networks What is the difference between KBps and kbps when using Internet Download Manager?

What is the difference between KBps and kbps when using Internet Download Manager?

What is the difference between KBps and kbps when using Internet Download Manager?

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Ian77
Member
110
09-12-2026, 10:09 AM
#1
My internet speed meter says KB per second, but when the numbers get big enough it switches to MB per second. Even though I know that capital B means Byte, the IDM seems to think capital B is just like lowercase b or a bit. Could someone please explain exactly why this happens? The video file VID20230512190618.mp4 was shared with Jumpshare via jumpshare.com
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Ian77
09-12-2026, 10:09 AM #1

My internet speed meter says KB per second, but when the numbers get big enough it switches to MB per second. Even though I know that capital B means Byte, the IDM seems to think capital B is just like lowercase b or a bit. Could someone please explain exactly why this happens? The video file VID20230512190618.mp4 was shared with Jumpshare via jumpshare.com

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Vichoflo
Senior Member
396
09-12-2026, 07:35 PM
#2
Byte and bit. Eight bits make one byte. That's right, eight bits equal one byte. Don't bother watching my video; just grab the picture that was there before.
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Vichoflo
09-12-2026, 07:35 PM #2

Byte and bit. Eight bits make one byte. That's right, eight bits equal one byte. Don't bother watching my video; just grab the picture that was there before.

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Gunner2000
Member
226
09-14-2026, 07:48 PM
#3
Screenshot-2023-05-13-03-27-46-15-6012fa4d4ddec268fc5c7112cbb265e7 hosted at ImgBB Image Screenshot-2023-05-13-03-27-46-15-6012fa4d4ddec268fc5c7112cbb265e7 hosted on ImgBB ibb.co Here you are. My ISP says I'm getting 5mbps download speed, but I think I'm actually getting way less than half of that.
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Gunner2000
09-14-2026, 07:48 PM #3

Screenshot-2023-05-13-03-27-46-15-6012fa4d4ddec268fc5c7112cbb265e7 hosted at ImgBB Image Screenshot-2023-05-13-03-27-46-15-6012fa4d4ddec268fc5c7112cbb265e7 hosted on ImgBB ibb.co Here you are. My ISP says I'm getting 5mbps download speed, but I think I'm actually getting way less than half of that.

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Lucas429216
Junior Member
5
09-20-2026, 10:25 AM
#4
So it's showing 526.9KB per second. That math gives us about 4.2 megabits every second, which is pretty close to the 5 megabit goal.
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Lucas429216
09-20-2026, 10:25 AM #4

So it's showing 526.9KB per second. That math gives us about 4.2 megabits every second, which is pretty close to the 5 megabit goal.

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Blood_edge
Member
64
09-20-2026, 11:58 AM
#5
So if that's the case, why does it say 54 minutes just to get a 1.5 GB file down? Does that mean I have to figure out all this stuff in bits?
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Blood_edge
09-20-2026, 11:58 AM #5

So if that's the case, why does it say 54 minutes just to get a 1.5 GB file down? Does that mean I have to figure out all this stuff in bits?

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hjb9404
Junior Member
2
09-22-2026, 09:54 AM
#6
That "54 minutes" doesn't matter at all. In just two minutes from now, it could go to 15 minutes or even three hours. That's a guess made based on what has happened recently. (I don't use an IDM, so I might be totally wrong)
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hjb9404
09-22-2026, 09:54 AM #6

That "54 minutes" doesn't matter at all. In just two minutes from now, it could go to 15 minutes or even three hours. That's a guess made based on what has happened recently. (I don't use an IDM, so I might be totally wrong)

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Jayrome
Member
61
09-29-2026, 04:23 AM
#7
You can figure it out in whatever units fit best, as long as everything matches up perfectly. You definitely need to keep track of the time; remember that 54 minutes equals 3240 seconds. With most situations like this, those specific numbers don't really matter anyway. If a speedtest shows your download rate and you pay for it from your ISP, then the network connection is all good. But file downloads are affected by so many things, so I can't tell just from looking at the number. It's a little surprising that you aren't getting a tiny bit more with Microsoft sites because they have massive bandwidth and you're downloading only one big file. On the other hand, if speedtest shows something under 5mbit/sec, then use that exact number to figure out how many MBYTE per minute you should expect to get.
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Jayrome
09-29-2026, 04:23 AM #7

You can figure it out in whatever units fit best, as long as everything matches up perfectly. You definitely need to keep track of the time; remember that 54 minutes equals 3240 seconds. With most situations like this, those specific numbers don't really matter anyway. If a speedtest shows your download rate and you pay for it from your ISP, then the network connection is all good. But file downloads are affected by so many things, so I can't tell just from looking at the number. It's a little surprising that you aren't getting a tiny bit more with Microsoft sites because they have massive bandwidth and you're downloading only one big file. On the other hand, if speedtest shows something under 5mbit/sec, then use that exact number to figure out how many MBYTE per minute you should expect to get.