diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 050f8acd..a66d5c8b 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ byobu (3.2) unreleased; urgency=low
   * usr/share/byobu/keybindings/f-keys: resize the screen as part of the
     F5/refresh, LP: #619899
   * usr/bin/byobu-launcher: don't launch if in a dumb terminal, LP: #612886
+  * usr/lib/byobu/network, usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1: allow for
+    configuration of network traffic in [kM]ps, LP: #578377
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:19:23 -0400
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/network b/usr/lib/byobu/network
index 60f147d8..7b1c736a 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/network
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/network
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@ for i in up down; do
 			rate=`echo "$rate" | awk '{printf "%.1f", $1/1024}'`
 			unit="MB/s"
 		fi
+		# Some users want to see bps rather than B/s
+		case "$NETWORK_UNITS" in
+			bits)
+				rate=`echo "$rate" | awk '{printf "%.0f", $1*8}'`
+				unit=`echo "$unit" | sed "s:B/s:bps:"`
+			;;
+		esac
 	fi
 	printf "$symbol$(color b m w)$rate$(color -)$(color m w)$unit$(color -) "
 done
diff --git a/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1 b/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
index 7ff65cb9..229ff077 100644
--- a/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
+++ b/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ byobu \- wrapper script for seeding a user's byobu configuration and launching s
 
 \fBmenu\fP \- a simple indicator directing new users to use the F9 keybinding to access the byobu menu
 
-\fBnetwork\fP \- instantaneous upload/download bandwidth in kB/s over the last 3 seconds; displayed in the lower bar toward the right in white text on a purple background with a leading '^' sign indicating 'up' and 'v' sign indicating 'down'; override the default interface by specifying an alternate interface with MONITORED_NETWORK=eth1 in \fI$HOME/.byobu/statusrc\fP
+\fBnetwork\fP \- instantaneous upload/download bandwidth in kB/s over the last 3 seconds; displayed in the lower bar toward the right in white text on a purple background with a leading '^' sign indicating 'up' and 'v' sign indicating 'down'; override the default interface by specifying an alternate interface with MONITORED_NETWORK=eth1, and override the default units (kB/s) with NETWORK_UNITS=bits in \fI$HOME/.byobu/statusrc\fP
 
 \fBprocesses\fP \- total number of processes running on the system; displayed in the lower bar in white text on a dark yellow background with a trailing '&' indicating 'background processes'