Which is faster, FireWire or Hi-Speed
USB (2.0)?
USB 2.0 is rated at 480 Mbps (480 megabits/s
= 60 megabytes/s). The 480 Mbps speed is theoretical and actually runs a lot slower (~ 240
Mbps or 30 MBps).
FireWire is rated at 400 Mbps with the 1394a
specification and 800 Mbps in 1394b specification. FireWire 400 is rated at about 400 Mbps (megabits/s) or about
50 MBps (megabytes/s). But FireWire 1394a is actually FASTER than USB 2.0 because the FireWire
architecture is faster:
Mr. and Mrs. techno gadget consumer, please note that
if you have USB 2.0 or FireWire ports on your system, your USB or FireWire devices that attach to these ports
should be labeled with their throughput rating "480 Mbps" for USB 2.0 and "400 or 800 Mbps" for FireWire 400/800 to
take advantage of the actual full speeds of these two technologies. Devices labeled "USB 2.0" or even "Hi-Speed
2.0" may not actually be "480 Mbps" devices.
