Bandwidth Calculator

Estimate transfer time, work backward from a deadline, convert data units or compare website traffic and billing-period usage with an average connection speed.

Check your inputsComplete valid inputs to calculate a current result.

0 – 1000000000000

1e-9 – 1000000000000

%

100% is ideal. Enter 80% to allow 20% for overhead or other traffic.

Estimated transfer time

1.333333333 minutes

  • Transfer time80 seconds
  • Usable throughput100 Mbps
  • Transferred data1 GB

Assumes steady throughput. Latency, server speed, competing traffic and retransmissions can increase actual transfer time. An empty file needs no data transfer time.

How this was calculated

Data size = 8,000,000,000 bits.

Time = bits ÷ (connection bits per second × 1).

For a deadline, connection speed = bits ÷ seconds ÷ usable fraction.

Transfer time and required speed

Transfer time in seconds equals file size in bits divided by usable throughput in bits per second. Usable throughput is the entered connection speed multiplied by the usable percentage.

A 1 GB file contains 8 billion bits. At 100 Mbps and 100% usable throughput, transfer time is 80 seconds. At 80% usable throughput it becomes 100 seconds. To finish in 80 seconds with 80% usable throughput, the required connection speed is 125 Mbps.

Bits, bytes and binary units

A byte contains eight bits. MB and GB use powers of 1,000; MiB and GiB use powers of 1,024. One MiB is 1,048,576 bytes, while one MB is 1,000,000 bytes. The unit selectors make that distinction explicit.

Mbps means millions of bits per second. MB/s means millions of bytes per second. A 100 Mbps connection has an ideal byte rate of 12.5 MB/s before overhead.

Website traffic and hosting estimates

Website usage equals daily page views multiplied by transferred bytes per view, period days and an allowance multiplier. With 10,000 daily views, 2 MB per view, 30 days and a 1.5 multiplier, estimated usage is 900 GB. The average rate over those 30 days is about 2.78 Mbps.

Average speed spreads traffic evenly across the entire billing period. It does not predict bursts, peak link capacity or a provider’s 95th-percentile bill. Use transferred page size after compression and caching, and include bots or other traffic in your allowance.

References

Frequently asked questions

Does this measure my internet speed?

No. Enter a measured or advertised speed. The result assumes steady throughput at the usable percentage you select.

Why does one GB take less time than one GiB?

One GiB contains 1,073,741,824 bytes, which is more data than one decimal GB.

Can I change the month length?

Yes. Usage modes accept a billing period from 1 to 366 whole days instead of assuming every month is identical.

Last updated . Results are estimates for informational purposes only.