Fast Transfer Time Calculator: Estimate File Transfer Duration Instantly
What it does
- Calculates how long a file transfer will take based on file size and transfer speed.
- Supports units: bytes (B, KB, MB, GB, TB) and bits (kb, Mbps, Gbps).
- Handles single files or total size for multiple files/folders.
Key inputs
- File size: enter a single size or sum of files (e.g., 12.5 GB or 3×700 MB).
- Transfer speed: choose measured speed (MB/s or Mbps). Option to enter real-world effective speed (lower than theoretical bandwidth).
- Overhead adjustments: toggle for protocol/CPU/latency overhead (e.g., 5–20%) to get realistic estimates.
- Start/end units: option to display result in seconds, minutes, hours, or days.
How the calculation works
- Convert file size to bits if speed is in bits/sec, or to bytes if speed is in bytes/sec.
- Apply overhead factor: Effective speed = entered speed × (1 − overhead).
- Time (seconds) = size (bits) / effective speed (bits/sec).
- Format output into human-readable units and show exact seconds.
Useful features
- Auto-convert between Mbps ↔ MB/s.
- Preset profiles for USB 2.0/3.0, Ethernet (100 Mbps, 1 Gbps), Wi‑Fi standards.
- Progress estimator: shows timestamps for 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%.
- Batch mode: estimate total time for multiple files with per-file overhead penalty.
- Shareable link or export CSV of estimates.
Accuracy tips
- Use measured throughput (e.g., from iperf or transfer logs) rather than advertised bandwidth.
- Increase overhead for many small files (TCP/IP and file system overheads).
- Account for encryption or compression effects on throughput.
Example
- File: 15 GB; Speed: 100 Mbps; Overhead: 10%
Effective speed = 90 Mbps → Time ≈ (15×8 Gbits) / 90 Mbps ≈ 1333 s ≈ 22 min 13 s.
When to use
- Planning backups or large uploads.
- Comparing transfer methods (USB vs. network).
- Scheduling maintenance windows that involve data migration.
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