“Gigabit internet” refers to any connection with symmetrical speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more. If you’re like most people, that working definition probably sounds like gibberish. Gigabit? 1,000 Mbps?
To truly understand what that means, it’s important to start by asking a completely different question first: how is data measured?
The smallest unit of data that a computer can understand is called a bit.
A bit can either be a 1 or a 0, and can be transmitted using electrical pulses, light pulses, or radio waves.
A collection of 8 bits is called a byte.
A byte is what we use to measure files stored on our devices - from smartphones and tablets to computers. For example, if you have a 64GB iPhone, you have a 536,870,912 bit iPhone. Make sense?
Bits and bytes are easy to get confused, so if your head is spinning don’t sweat it! Especially when it comes to talking about internet packages, people often conflate the two. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that it’s customary to use the same prefixes when talking about many bits or bytes.
Take a look at the comparison below:
Measuring Bandwidth in Bits
1,000 bits = 1 kilobit
1,000 kilobits = 1 megabit
1,000 megabit = 1 gigabit
Measuring Storage in Bytes
1,000 bytes = 1 kilobytes
1,000 kilobytes = 1 megabytes
1,000 megabytes = 1 gigabytes
As you can see from above, that’s really fast. This bandwidth tier is usually offered by fiber-optic providers, Pilot included, and might be a perfect fit for businesses that need aggressive bandwidth performance such as video editors.
