Is 3.0 MBPs Fast for Downloading Music?
Downloading music at the rate of 3 Mbps, or megabits per second, is slow for electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones. The downloading speeds available with certain connection types, including DSL, cable and wireless networks, tend to be faster, though each connection type offers different downloading speeds.
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Download Speeds
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DSL Internet connections are capable of downloading at speeds of up to 15 Mbps, though average real-life use produces rates in the neighborhood of 3 to 10 Mbps. Cable connections come in two forms, the slower of which downloads at rates of up to 30 Mbps and the faster of which attains download speeds of up to 105 Mbps. Most mobile phones on the market as of the time of publication use HSDPA technology for accessing the 3G wireless network, which produces download at speeds of up to 14 Mbps.
Variables
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These download speeds are optimal case scenarios that are rarely attainable in real-life use. A variety of variables can impact these downloading speeds, including network traffic and weather conditions, producing speeds that are considerably slower. Downloading music at the rate of 3 Mbps is likely on a standard DSL connection, available from many phone companies. Your computer’s processing speed can also affect the speed in which downloaded content is processed. Although the Internet connection may provide the computing device with the data at a given download speed, the processor’s ability to process that data could have an impact on how quickly the data makes it to your computer’s or mobile device’s hard drive.
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Units
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One megabyte, or MB, is equal to 8 megabits, meaning the oft-misidentified "Mbps" is not the same as "MBps" when it comes to downloading speeds. A bit is the smallest unit of data measurement, and 8 bits equals a byte. A kilobyte is equal to 1,000 bytes and 1,000 kilobytes is equal to a megabyte. A megabit is equal to 1 million bits, which is equal to about 12.5 percent of a megabyte.
Comparisons
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A typical three-minute music file measures about 3 MB and takes roughly eight seconds to download using an Internet connection that downloads at 3 Mbps. In comparison, the same 3 MB music file takes about eight-tenths of a second to download using a slow cable connection and two-tenths of a second using a fast cable connection, in optimal conditions. Average cable speeds, however, can download the same music file in nearly two seconds. In spite of these differences, consider how important these few seconds’ differences truly are when downloading music to your computing device.
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References
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