How to work out download time
- Enter the File size and its unit. Choose 1,024 if the size comes from Windows, which counts that way.
- Enter your Connection speed. Internet plans and speed tests use Mbps (megabits); download managers often show MB/s (megabytes).
- Add an Overhead allowance if you want a more realistic time, then read the result and the table of other speeds.
Download times at common speeds
| File size | 25 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 500 Mbps | 1 Gbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 5 min 20 s | 1 min 20 s | 16 s | 8 s |
| 5 GB | 26 min 40 s | 6 min 40 s | 1 min 20 s | 40 s |
| 50 GB | 4 h 26 min 40 s | 1 h 6 min 40 s | 13 min 20 s | 6 min 40 s |
| 100 GB | 8 h 53 min 20 s | 2 h 13 min 20 s | 26 min 40 s | 13 min 20 s |
Times are at full speed with decimal gigabytes, before any overhead.
Bits, bytes and the factor of 8
The most common mix-up is between bits and bytes. A connection sold as 1 Gbps can at most move 125 MB a second; a 500 Mbps plan tops out around 62.5 MB/s. When a game launcher shows 60 MB/s, that’s already close to a 500 Mbps line’s limit. To convert between speed units, use the data transfer rate converter; for video sizes, the bitrate calculator.