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this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
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Back in the day, the rule was mbit (megabit) for data in transfer (network speed) and MB (megabyte) for data at rest, like on HDDs
So mbit/s instead of Mbit/s ? But the M in Mega is always capitalized though, except the k in kilo.
but why?
Bigger number sounds better for the ISP.
@Moneo @SigHunter Networking came to be when there were lots of different implementations of a 'byte'. The PDP-10 was prevalent at the time the internet was being developed for example, which supported variable byte lengths of up to 36-bits per byte.
Network protocols had to support every device regardless of its byte size, so protocol specifications settled on bits as the lowest common unit size, while referring to 8-bit fields as 'octets' before 8-bit became the de facto standard byte length.
The real answer?
Data is transmitted in packets. Each packet has a packet header, and a packet payload. The total data transmitted is the header + payload.
If you're transmitting smaller packet sizes, it means your header is a larger percentage of the total packet size.
Measuring in megabits is the ISP telling you "look, your connection is good for X amount of data. How you choose to use that data is up to you. If you want more of it going to your packet headers instead of your payload, fine." A bit is a bit is a bit to your ISP.