Bits vs. Bytes

Microsift Windows generally measures speed in Bytes per second (Bps), however the standard unit of measurement for speed is actually bits per second (bps) which can be a little confusing. Especially when the only visible difference is a lower or upper case B.

Most services are offered either in the kilobit or the megabit range, and bandwidth is bought and sold using the standard measures of kilo bits per second (kbps) or mega bits per second (Mbps).

Bits are notated with a lower case b whereas Bytes are notated with an upper case B.
There are eight bits in a Byte. If you need to convert from one to the other you just multiply or divide by eight. So, 50 kBps is equal to 400 kbps and 512 kbps is equal to 64 kBps.

When an Internet service provider (ISP) purchases bandwidth, they either buy it with a set cap or by something called the 95th percentile.
The first method is simple, if you want 100Mbps then the provider caps the speed of the connection right at 100Mbps and bills you accordingly.

The 95th percentile is slightly more complicated. With this method the provider takes your average peak usage over the last month and calculates 95 percent of that. That then becomes the rate at which you are billed. The 95th percentile method is often the preferred method since there is no hard cap in place, if you require more speed, it's available you so as long as the provider has the capacity on their network.