Hello!

In this article we will discuss a very high level view of the difference between bits and bytes. 

A bit is sort of like a computer's atoms. It is the smallest unit of measurement for data, and the most a computer can process at any given time (in Binary this is the 1 or 0 that makes up data).

A byte is made up of eight bits. Because of it's larger size, byte is typically used in terms of memory (kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte) and bits are typically used to measure the speed at which data can be transferred or processed (such as Internet speed, in kilobits, megabits, and gigabits).

Now that we've got the definitions out of the way, let's talk about how this translates to how quickly you can download something off of the Internet.

If you have a 1 MB (megabyte) file that you are downloading, and your Internet speed averages about 4 Mbps (megabits per second), then you can download that file in two (2) seconds.

A gigabyte is made up of around 1028 megabytes, so if you have a 1 GB file, and your Internet speed averages about 4 Mbps, it will take you approximately 35 minutes and 47 seconds.

We hope this helps put things in perspective!