Throughput Calculator
Calculate real-world network throughput with protocol overhead and efficiency factors.
Additional losses from congestion, retransmits, or application overhead
Theoretical Max
Real-World Throughput
Effective MB/s
Why Real Throughput is Lower Than Advertised
Every network protocol adds overhead. Ethernet frames include headers and checksums. TCP adds acknowledgments and flow control. WiFi has collision avoidance and retry mechanisms. Together, these reduce the usable bandwidth by 3-30% depending on the medium.
Factors That Reduce Throughput
- Protocol headers: TCP/IP headers consume 2-5% of bandwidth
- Retransmissions: Packet loss causes retransmits, wasting bandwidth
- Half-duplex collisions: WiFi collisions reduce throughput on congested networks
- CPU/NIC limits: Processing overhead can cap throughput at high speeds