{
    "name": "Network Throughput Calculator",
    "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/network-throughput-calculator",
    "markdown": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/network-throughput-calculator.md",
    "category": "IT, networking & security",
    "description": "Work out the real throughput of a transfer from the data moved and the time it took, in Mbps, Gbps, MB/s and MiB/s, and compare it with your link speed.",
    "summary": "Throughput is data moved divided by time. Links are rated in bits per second with decimal prefixes, while files are often shown in binary bytes, so the units are converted explicitly.",
    "also_called": [
        "Transfer rate calculator",
        "Data rate calculator"
    ],
    "applies_to": "Worldwide",
    "last_updated": "2026-10-29",
    "computation": "Results are computed in the visitor’s browser on the HTML page. This API describes the calculator; it does not compute results.",
    "inputs": [
        {
            "name": "amount",
            "label": "Data transferred",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "1"
        },
        {
            "name": "amount_unit",
            "label": "Data unit",
            "type": "select",
            "default": "GB",
            "options": {
                "B": "bytes",
                "KB": "KB (10³ bytes)",
                "MB": "MB (10⁶ bytes)",
                "GB": "GB (10⁹ bytes)",
                "TB": "TB (10¹² bytes)",
                "KiB": "KiB (2¹⁰ bytes)",
                "MiB": "MiB (2²⁰ bytes)",
                "GiB": "GiB (2³⁰ bytes)",
                "TiB": "TiB (2⁴⁰ bytes)"
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "time",
            "label": "Time taken",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "10"
        },
        {
            "name": "time_unit",
            "label": "Time unit",
            "type": "segmented",
            "default": "s",
            "options": {
                "s": "Seconds",
                "min": "Minutes",
                "h": "Hours"
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "link_mbps",
            "label": "Link speed (optional)",
            "type": "number",
            "default": "1000",
            "unit": "Mbps",
            "optional": true
        }
    ],
    "outputs": [
        {
            "key": "mbps",
            "label": "Throughput",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "gbps",
            "label": "Throughput",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "mb_per_s",
            "label": "Throughput in megabytes",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "mib_per_s",
            "label": "Throughput in mebibytes",
            "format": "number"
        },
        {
            "key": "utilisation",
            "label": "Link utilisation",
            "format": "text"
        }
    ],
    "formula": {
        "text": "Throughput (bit/s) = Bytes × 8 ÷ Seconds;  Mbps = bit/s ÷ 10⁶;  MB/s = bytes/s ÷ 10⁶;  MiB/s = bytes/s ÷ 2²⁰",
        "variables": {
            "Bytes": "data moved, with 1 GB = 10⁹ bytes and 1 GiB = 2³⁰ bytes",
            "Seconds": "elapsed transfer time"
        }
    },
    "worked_example": {
        "inputs": {
            "amount": "1",
            "amount_unit": "GB",
            "time": "10",
            "time_unit": "s",
            "link_mbps": "1000"
        },
        "steps": [
            "1 GB = 10⁹ bytes = 8 × 10⁹ bits.",
            "8 × 10⁹ bits ÷ 10 s = 8 × 10⁸ bit/s = 800 Mbps = 100 MB/s.",
            "100 × 10⁶ ÷ 1,048,576 = 95.367 MiB/s; 800 of 1,000 Mbps is 80%."
        ],
        "result": "Moving 1 GB in 10 seconds is 800 Mbps (100 MB/s), 80% of a gigabit link."
    },
    "interpretation": "Expect application throughput a few per cent below the line rate because of Ethernet, IP and TCP headers. Far lower results usually point to latency with a small TCP window, disk speed, Wi-Fi, or a busy link.",
    "assumptions": [
        "The time covers only the transfer itself.",
        "Link speeds use SI prefixes (1 Mbps = 10⁶ bit/s), as network equipment does."
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "A single average hides bursts and stalls during the transfer."
    ],
    "rules": null,
    "faqs": [
        {
            "question": "Is 100 MB/s the same as 100 Mbps?",
            "answer": "No. A byte is 8 bits, so 100 MB/s is 800 Mbps. Lower-case b means bits, upper-case B means bytes."
        },
        {
            "question": "Why does my file manager show a lower MB/s figure?",
            "answer": "Many operating systems divide by 1,048,576 (MiB) but label it MB, which reads about 4.6% lower than decimal megabytes."
        }
    ],
    "sources": [],
    "related": [
        {
            "name": "Download Time Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/download-time-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "TCP Bandwidth-Delay Product Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/tcp-bandwidth-delay-product-calculator"
        },
        {
            "name": "Website Bandwidth Calculator",
            "url": "https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/bandwidth-calculator"
        }
    ],
    "disclaimer": null,
    "publisher": "GM¹X CalcVerse"
}