Bandwidth Levels

Type of Connection

bandwidth

what you get in 1 second

Or live streaming

old modem 9600 bps small email ~ 1.2 kB irc / text / telnet
modem 56 kbps web graphic ~ 7 kB audio
ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) 128 kbps 2 web graphics ~ 15 kB visioconference one 2 one
DSL / Cable Modem 512 kbps 1 jpeg image 600x400 ~ 62 kB 300kbps = very useful video (cable, ADSL)
near future DSL / Cable Modem 1Mbps Document ~ 125 kB 1500kbps, 2.2 Mbps= VHS video
ethernet
WIFI 54Mbps
10Mbps 1 floppy disk ~ 1.25 MB 6Mbps = PAL video
ethernet 100Mbps 2 MP3 songs ~ 12.25 MB 20Mbps = compr. HDTV
ethernet 1Gbps 10m CD audio ~ 125 MB 270Mbps = raw PAL video
  10Gbps 2 CDs ~ 1.25 GB 1.5Gbps = raw HDTV
  100Gbps 2 DVDs ~ 12.5 GB 1Tbps = 50,000 channels of compressed HDTV

NB. : Mbps = 1000 x 1000 bits per second, kbps = 1000 bps, Gbps = 1000 Mbps   -- minus overheads !

MB/s (Megabytes/s) : 1024x1024 bytes per second

The standard for carriers and networks is that Mbps is 1000x1000 bits per second (and Gigabit/s is 1000x1000x1000). That's also the transport rate, not the payload rate - so you need to allow for overheads of whatever protocols you are using. (e.g. tcp/ip/atm/sdh - you lose a lot of payload bandwidth that way.)
Conversely, if somebody quotes MB/s (Megabytes/s) they do usually mean 1024x1024 bytes per second.

Back in the bad old days, a 1 Megabyte floppy was 1024x1000 !