Free calculator • Broadband vs leased line
Upload and download time calculator
How long will that backup, video or project folder take to send? Pick a size, or enter your own, and compare the time on superfast fibre, full fibre and a business leased line, side by side.
Times assume each connection runs at the full speed shown, with 1GB counted as 1,000MB. Real transfers usually take a little longer, because of network overheads, Wi-Fi, the service at the other end and, on broadband, other people sharing the network. Speeds are the top speeds of common UK products. Some full fibre networks offer faster uploads than these, so check your own package.
Why uploads are the slow part
Broadband is built for downloading. Your business sends more than ever.
Most UK broadband is asymmetric: the upload speed is a fraction of the download speed. That suits a household, where most data comes in. It suits a business far less, because so much now goes out: backups to the cloud, files syncing to OneDrive and SharePoint, video calls, and large drawings, photos or video sent to clients.
Broadband is also shared. Your line connects to a network that other homes and businesses use, so speeds can dip at busy times.
A business leased line works differently. It is a dedicated connection between your premises and the network, with the same speed in both directions and no one else sharing it. That is why a 1Gbps leased line uploads around nine times faster than 1Gbps full fibre with a 115Mbps upload, even though both download at the same headline speed. If you are weighing it up, our guide to what a leased line costs covers prices and installation times.
| Connection | Download | Upload | Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superfast fibre (FTTC) | Up to 80Mbps | Up to 20Mbps | Shared |
| Full fibre 500Mbps (FTTP) | Up to 500Mbps | Up to 75Mbps | Shared |
| Full fibre 1Gbps (FTTP) | Up to 1Gbps | Up to 115Mbps* | Shared |
| Leased line | 100Mbps to 10Gbps | Same as download | Dedicated to you |
*Some business full fibre products on the Openreach network offer up to 220Mbps upload. Speeds are the top speeds of each product on the Openreach network.
Quick answers
How long does it take to upload 1GB, 10GB or 100GB?
If you just need a rough figure, here are the upload times for three common sizes on each type of connection.
| Connection | Upload 1GB | Upload 10GB | Upload 100GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superfast fibre 20Mbps upload | 6 min 40 sec | 1 hr 7 min | 11 hr 7 min |
| Full fibre 500Mbps 75Mbps upload | 1 min 47 sec | 17 min 47 sec | 2 hr 58 min |
| Full fibre 1Gbps 115Mbps upload | 1 min 10 sec | 11 min 36 sec | 1 hr 56 min |
| Leased line 100Mbps 100Mbps upload | 1 min 20 sec | 13 min 20 sec | 2 hr 13 min |
| Leased line 1Gbps 1Gbps upload | 8 sec | 1 min 20 sec | 13 min 20 sec |
At the full upload speed shown. Real transfers usually take a little longer.
The maths
How to work out upload and download time
The calculation is simple once the units match. File sizes are measured in bytes (MB, GB) but connection speeds are measured in bits per second (Mbps). There are 8 bits in a byte, so multiply the file size by 8 first.
Two things catch people out. First, a speed in megabytes per second (MB/s) is 8 times bigger than the same number in megabits per second (Mbps), so 100Mbps is about 12.5MB/s. Second, Windows shows file sizes in binary units, so a folder Windows calls 10GB is about 10.7GB in the decimal units this calculator uses.
Leased line speed test
How to test your leased line speed properly
A leased line should give you close to its full speed in both directions, at any time of day. A quick browser test can make it look slower than it is, so test it like this.
- Plug in with a cableWi-Fi is usually the bottleneck, not the line. Connect a computer by cable as close to the router or firewall as you can, and make sure its network port and cable support the speed you are testing.
- Test when the office is quietEveryone else using the line during the test takes a share of it. Test early, late or with heavy users paused.
- Check upload as well as downloadOn a leased line both results should be close to each other. If the upload is much lower, something is wrong.
- Run it a few times, to a nearby serverPick a test server close to you and repeat the test, rather than trusting a single result.
- Expect slightly under the headline figureNetwork overheads mean a 1Gbps line normally tests a little below 1,000Mbps. That is normal. Results far below what you pay for are not.
- Raise it if it stays slowIf results are consistently low, take them to your provider. If your line is with us, call our helpdesk and we will investigate it with the carrier.
Testing ordinary broadband instead? Our guide on how to test your broadband speed walks through it step by step.
Free • No obligation • Quote for your address
Uploads in minutes, not hours
If your team waits on uploads, backups or video calls, tell us where you are and we will come back with a leased line quote for your exact address, including the installation timeline. Business leased lines run up to 10Gbps, from £195 a month excluding VAT.
What you get
- A quote for your exact address
- Installation timeline in writing
- Failover and backup options
- One local team for your line, IT and phones
If it is urgent, call us on 01903 255 159.
FAQ
Upload and download times: common questions
At full speed, 1GB takes about 6 min 40 sec on superfast fibre with a 20Mbps upload, 1 min 10 sec on 1Gbps full fibre with a 115Mbps upload, 1 min 20 sec on a 100Mbps leased line and about 8 sec on a 1Gbps leased line. Real uploads usually take a little longer.
About 1 hr 7 min at 20Mbps, 11 min 36 sec at 115Mbps, 13 min 20 sec on a 100Mbps leased line and 1 min 20 sec on a 1Gbps leased line, assuming the connection runs at full speed.
Because most broadband is asymmetric. It gives far more capacity to downloads than uploads, so a full fibre line sold as 1Gbps typically uploads at around 115Mbps on the Openreach network. A leased line is symmetric, so the upload speed matches the download speed.
For uploads, yes: a 1Gbps leased line uploads around nine times faster than 1Gbps full fibre with a 115Mbps upload. For downloads the headline speeds can be the same. The other difference is that a leased line is dedicated to your business rather than shared, so its speed holds at busy times. Our guide to leased line costs compares the two in more detail.
Multiply the file size in megabytes by 8 to convert it to megabits, then divide by your upload speed in Mbps. The answer is the time in seconds. For example, 10GB is 80,000 megabits, which takes 4,000 seconds, about 1 hour 7 minutes, at 20Mbps.
Mbps is megabits per second, the unit broadband speeds are sold in. MB/s is megabytes per second, which many download windows show. There are 8 bits in a byte, so 100Mbps is about 12.5MB/s.
Connect a computer by cable close to the router, test when the office is quiet, check upload as well as download, and repeat the test a few times against a nearby server. A leased line should test close to its full speed in both directions, slightly under the headline figure because of network overheads.
