diff --git a/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml b/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml
--- a/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml
+++ b/applets/systemmonitor/common/contents/ui/DoublePlotter.qml
@@ -54,12 +54,15 @@
         return Qt.hsla(hue, saturation, lightness, 1.0);
     }
 
+    property string downloadColor: theme.highlightColor
+    property string uploadColor: cycle(theme.highlightColor, -90)
+
     dataSets: [
         KQuickAddons.PlotData {
-            color: theme.highlightColor
+            color: downloadColor
         },
         KQuickAddons.PlotData {
-            color: cycle(theme.highlightColor, -90)
+            color: uploadColor
         }
     ]
 
@@ -99,7 +102,11 @@
 
             if (plasmoid.formFactor != PlasmaCore.Types.Vertical) {
                 nameLabel.text = plotter.sensorName
-                speedLabel.text = formatData(data1) + " | " + formatData(data2)
+                speedLabel.text = i18n("<font color='%1'>⬇</font> %2 | <font color='%3'>⬆</font> %4",
+                                        downloadColor,
+                                        formatData(data1),
+                                        uploadColor,
+                                        formatData(data2))
             } else {
                 nameLabel.text = plotter.sensorName+ "\n" + formatData(data1) + "\n" + formatData(data2)
                 speedLabel.text = ""
diff --git a/applets/systemmonitor/net/contents/ui/net.qml b/applets/systemmonitor/net/contents/ui/net.qml
--- a/applets/systemmonitor/net/contents/ui/net.qml
+++ b/applets/systemmonitor/net/contents/ui/net.qml
@@ -43,15 +43,12 @@
         function formatData(data) {
             var value = data.value * 1024 * 8
             if (value > (1024 * 1024)) {
-                return i18nc("%1 is the displayed data transfer speed in megabits per second", "%1 Mbps", (value / (1024 * 1024)).toFixed(1));
+                return i18nc("%1 is the displayed data transfer speed in mebibits per second", "%1 Mib/s", (value / (1024 * 1024)).toFixed(1));
             }
             if (value > 1024) {
-                return i18nc("%1 is the displayed data transfer speed in kilobits per second", "%1 Kbps", (value / 1024));
+                return i18nc("%1 is the displayed data transfer speed in kibibits per second", "%1 Kib/s", (value / 1024));
             }
-            if (value > 0) {
-                return i18nc("%1 is the displayed data transfer speed in bits per second", "%1 bps", value);
-            }
-            return value;
+            return i18nc("%1 is the displayed data transfer speed in bits per second", "%1 b/s", value);
         }
     }
 }