system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why can Netflix stream at 2.0 MB/s, but Steam can't get above 500 KB/s?

I live out in a rural area, where even the best ISP can only give us "up to 4 MB/S speed." Why is it that I can stream HD video quickly, but when I download a large file or even try to load an embedded video, it's slow?
gpt
I think you are confusing megabytes (MB) and megabits (Mb). Does your ISP offer you 4 MB/s or 4 Mb/s? Megabits are far more commonly used when ISPs tell you your speed. A 4 Mb/s speed is roughly 500 KB/s (kilobytes) per second) so that sounds about right and your Netflix is probably able to utilize near the full connection as they pick the best quality you can handle so long as you have use HD checked.