SI unit prefix meaning 1,000,000 (or one million). In networking terms, the mega prefix is normally associated with the link capacity (bandwidth) of a network link. In this context it is used for example as “this Ethernet link has a bandwidth of 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s).” Example commonly used link technologies that use megabit speeds are Ethernet (these days usually 100 Mbit/s), WiFi (IEEE 802.11g) which is 54 Mbit/s, and domestic broadband which is typically around 2-10 Mbit/s. One megabit per second is equivalent to 1,000 kilobit/second (1,000 kbit/s).

A common error made by computing students is to assume that 1 Mbit/s is 2^20 (= 1,048,576) bit/s: it isn't! The SI units define the prefix Mi (pronounced mebi) for this usage.

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