How long does it take to copy 100 GB over WiFi 6? OFDMA and signal guide

A 100 GB transfer over WiFi 6 works out to about 11 minutes 7 seconds at a realistic 1.2 Gbps sustained rate on a clean 5 GHz 160 MHz channel. 802.11ax's marketing peak is 9.6 Gbps across four antennas, but 1-1.5 Gbps sustained is the mainstream per-device reality for a modern laptop at close range.

Transfer time
11m 6s
At peak link speed
File size
100 GB
100 GB
Link speed
1,200 Mbps
WiFi 6 (real-world 1.2 Gbps)

Calculator

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Configuration

Mbps
Estimated Transfer Time
11m 6s

Speed Comparison

USB 2.0
27m 46s
480 Mbps
USB 4 / Thunderbolt 4
20s
40 Gbps
Gigabit Ethernet
13m 20s
1 Gbps
10 Gigabit Ethernet
1m 20s
10 Gbps
WiFi 5 (ac)
33m 20s
400 Mbps
WiFi 7 (be)
2m 40s
5 Gbps
SATA SSD
3m 1s
4.4 Gbps
NVMe Gen4 SSD
14s
56 Gbps

How this is calculated

WiFi 6 mostly matters for multi-device consistency rather than single-link peak. OFDMA and MU-MIMO keep speeds stable when the network is busy, which is where WiFi 5 falls apart. For a single device doing a bulk transfer, the practical improvement over 5 GHz 80 MHz WiFi 5 is 2-3x, not the 7x the marketing implies. WiFi 6E on the 6 GHz band typically does better than 5 GHz because the spectrum is cleaner.

Verdict

11m 7s for 100 GB over WiFi 6 at good signal is a useful benchmark. Most laptops and phones land in the 10-15 minute range depending on distance and congestion.

More Wireless scenarios

Frequently asked questions

Is WiFi 6 faster than Gigabit Ethernet?
Yes, at close range with 160 MHz channels, WiFi 6 can sustain speeds around 1.2 Gbps, which is slightly faster than standard Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps).