Download time calculator
How long a file will take to download at your connection speed.
Calculator inputs
Results
Enter your values and press “Calculate” to see the result.
In short
- What it calculates
- How long a file will take to download at your connection speed.
- Formula used
MB/s = Mbps ÷ 8- Example
- A 4.7 GB file on a 100 Mbps connection:
Download time calculator
Confusing megabits with megabytes makes downloads look eight times slower than expected. Here the conversion is done properly.
How it works
Advertised speed is in megabits per second, but files are measured in megabytes. Dividing by eight gives the real transfer rate.
Formula
MB/s = Mbps ÷ 8
Seconds = size in MB ÷ (Mbps ÷ 8)
A 100 Mbps connection transfers 12.5 MB per second
Worked example
A 4.7 GB file on a 100 Mbps connection:
4,700 MB ÷ 12.5 MB/s = 376 seconds
About 6 minutes and 16 seconds.
Explanation
Advertised speed is a theoretical maximum
What a provider advertises is the link capacity under ideal conditions, not what you will always get. Between you and the server there is shared wifi, network congestion, limits at the origin server itself and physical distance. Reaching eighty per cent of the theoretical maximum is already a good result.
Megabits against megabytes
This is the confusion that causes most disappointment. Providers sell megabits per second and download managers show megabytes per second. Since a byte is eight bits, a 600 Mbps connection downloads at most around 75 MB/s. Lowercase versus uppercase b marks a factor of eight.
Wifi is usually the bottleneck
A gigabit fibre connection over cable can drop to two hundred over wifi, especially on the 2.4 GHz band, through walls or with many devices connected. Before complaining to the provider, measure over a cable.
Upload is not the same as download
Many connections are asymmetric: plenty of download capacity and considerably less upload. For video calls, cloud backups or sending large files, upload is what matters.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my real download slower?
Because the advertised speed is a theoretical maximum. The source server, Wi-Fi and network traffic all reduce effective throughput.
Are Mbps and MB/s the same?
No. Mbps is megabits per second and MB/s is megabytes per second. There is a factor of 8 between them.
Why is my download slower than what I pay for?
Wifi, congestion, origin server limits and distance. Reaching eighty per cent of the theoretical maximum is already good.
Is 600 Mbps 600 MB per second?
No. It is about 75 MB/s, because a byte is eight bits. Providers sell megabits while programs display megabytes.
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