Definition: One kilobit per second (Kbps) equals 1000 bits per second (bps). Kbps is also written as “kbps” that carries the same meaning. Likewise, one megabit per second (Mbps) equals one million bps and one Gigabit equals one billion bps.

Kbps - Related Terms • bps • kilobyte • octet

Network performance is best measured in bps, but sometimes numbers are given in bytes per second (Bps). Then, one KBps equals one kilobyte per second, one MBps equals one megabyte per second, and GBps equals one gigabyte per second. Many times people write KBps, for example, when they mean Kbps, and it is important to be clear on this distinction.

Examples: V.90 modems support data rates up to 56 Kbps. Traditional Ethernet supports data rates up to 10 Mbps and Fast Ethernet 100 Mbps. Gigabit Ethernet supports 1000 Mbps or 1 Gbps.

Also Known As: Kb/sec, Kb/s, Mb/sec, Mb/s, Gb/sec, Gb/s

Kbps - Related Resources:

Basic Networking Directory
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