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Glite Dictionary
Gbps

Gbps

4.9
A measure of internet speed equal to one billion bits per second
  • symbol
  • Specialized
translation icon : Gbps
  • The new internet plan offers up to 2 Gbps download speeds for faster streaming and gaming.

Examples

  • Transferring large files is much quicker with a connection rated at 1 Gbps.

  • Many modern data centers require network equipment that supports at least 10 Gbps speeds.

  • The new router supports speeds up to 10 Gbps.

  • Can you believe this connection is only 1 Gbps?

  • The new internet plan offers up to 2 Gbps download speeds for faster streaming and gaming.

  • Many modern data centers require network equipment that supports at least 10 Gbps speeds.

  • Transferring large files is much quicker with a connection rated at 1 Gbps.

How Fast

Gbps
  • Specialized
4.9
Mbps
  • Specialized
3.7
kbps
  • Specialized
3.5
bps
  • Specialized
1 3.8

Surface Forms

Gbps main

Morphology

Gbps = gigabit + second (transparent) = G + b + p + s

The symbol is a direct abbreviation of the phrase 'gigabit per second', so knowledge of the component units yields the meaning.

Etymology

Gbps stands for giga-, bit, and per second, where giga- means 'billion', bit means 'a very small piece of information', and per second means 'each second'. A helpful image is 'billions of tiny pieces of information passing every second', and you can think of giga- like the familiar word gigabyte that shows a large amount. So, Gbps measures how fast data moves by counting how many bits pass each second.