Speedtest.net says i get a 10Mbps download speed but on steam i only get 1-2MB/s

[zombieshy_guy81]

So i just bought GTA5 and i went to download it but only get about 1-2 MB/s download speed But when i ran speedtest.net i get 10-12 Mbps. Is there something i can do to get the proper speeds that i get on speedtest.net? I use Etherne, is there a difference between Mbps and MB/s? Thanks

[Princess Luna]

Because megabits aren't megabytes, It takes 8mbps to equal 1MB/s.

[WereCat]

10Mbps = 1.25MB/s

[zombieshy_guy81]

9 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

Because megabits aren't megabytes, It takes 8mbps to equal 1MB/s.

Thanks for the clarification lol didnt know that

[bellabichon]

Ah yes, the most confusing terminology in the whole of networking. Megabits =/= megabytes. Believe it or not, 8 megabits is actually equal to one megabyte. I believe you can set it to measure in megabytes rather than megabits in the settings of speedtest, or you can just do the simple calculation.  

[Alex Atkin UK]

17 hours ago, bellabichon said:

Ah yes, the most confusing terminology in the whole of networking. Megabits =/= megabytes. Believe it or not, 8 megabits is actually equal to one megabyte. I believe you can set it to measure in megabytes rather than megabits in the settings of speedtest, or you can just do the simple calculation.  

That's because technically Megabits is a networking unit, Megabytes is a storage unit.  But in their infinite wisdom the industry starting counting networking in Bytes (particularly web browsers) as it was easier for people to understand relative to their disk space.

 

For reference, Steam can also be switched into using Megabits in the settings but web browsers still cannot.