20GB over 5 Mbps — 9 h 26 min
The advertised 5 Mbps caps at 0.63 MB/s, and once addresses and sequence numbers take their share, 0.59 MB/s is left.
- Time it takes
- 9 h 26 min
- Division alone says
- 32000 s
- Real speed
- 0.59 MB/s
- What the ad implies
- 0.63 MB/s
- What the file browser shows
- 18.63 GB
- To finish within a minute
- 2833 Mbps
- A full day of this
- 50.8 GB
Narrower than the line
However fast the line, a narrow hop between router and device caps everything. Wi-Fi 5 tops out at 866 Mbps on paper, so it cannot carry a gigabit line, and a gigabit port ends at 1000 Mbps. The figures below are the standards’ maximums; real links run lower.
None
How many streams fit
What happens when the line is shared. Each figure divides the real speed, packaging already removed, by what the service recommends.
- music streaming14
- a video call1
- HD video0
- full HD video0
- 4K video0
Nearby cells
Same file, other lines
Same line, other files
How to read this
- These times assume the line stays full from start to finish. A slow server or a shared connection stretches them.
- Small b is bits, capital B is bytes. Divide by eight to get MB/s.
- The speed you actually see is 94.1% of the advertised one — addresses and sequence numbers take the rest.
- Sizes here are decimal. Windows Explorer’s GB is 7% larger than this one.
Frequently asked questions
Q. How long does 20GB take over 5 Mbps?
9 h 26 min. Plain division says 32000 seconds; packaging adds the rest.
Q. What speed will I actually see?
0.59 MB/s. The advertised rate divided by eight gives 0.63 MB/s, and addresses and sequence numbers take their share of that.
Q. What would finish it within a minute?
A 2833 Mbps line. This one is 5 Mbps.
Q. What size does the file browser show?
18.63 GB — the same file counted in powers of two.