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How long does it take to copy 100 GB over WiFi 6? Peak link rate

1m 23s is the WiFi 6 peak-link calculation for 100 GB. Client hardware, distance, channel width, and congestion determine how close a real transfer gets.

A 100 GB transfer over WiFi 6 works out to about 1 minute 23 seconds at the 9.6 Gbps nominal peak link rate. 802.11ax's maximum is an aggregate multi-stream figure, so a single client and real network usually deliver less.

By TechCompare · Updated

Transfer time
1m 23s
At peak link speed
File size
100 GB
100 GB
Link speed
9.6 Gbps
WiFi 6

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Estimated Transfer Time
1m 23s
about 500,000 pages of PDFs
This exact 100 GB copy over WiFi 6, pre-loaded. Change the file size, link, or model a longer round trip.
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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

100 GB at WiFi 6's 9.6 Gbps nominal peak link rate works out to about 1 minute 23 seconds. The 9.6 Gbps figure is an aggregate multi-stream maximum, so client hardware, distance, and congestion make real transfers slower. Compared to WiFi 5's 1.3 Gbps peak, WiFi 6's nominal maximum is substantially higher, though the practical gap depends on the devices and channel.

More Wireless scenarios

100 GB over USB 3.0
A 100 GB transfer over USB 3.0 works out to exactly 2 minutes 40 seconds at the interface's 5 Gbps peak rate.
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1 TB over USB 3.0
A 1 TB transfer over USB 3.0 works out to 26 minutes 40 seconds at the interface's 5 Gbps peak data rate.
View details ➜
4 GB over USB 2.0
A 4 GB transfer over USB 2.0 works out to 1 minute 6 seconds at the interface's 480 Mbps peak rate.
View details ➜

Related guides

WiFi 6 vs WiFi 7 wireless standards
The next-tier wireless bandwidth comparison versus this WiFi 6 reference.
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Cat6 vs Cat6a ethernet cable
The wired alternative cabling to WiFi 6 transfers.
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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).
Is WiFi 6 faster than Gigabit Ethernet in practice?
On paper WiFi 6 can reach 1.2-2.4 Gbps per device, but real-world throughput is typically 700-1,500 Mbps in clean conditions. Gigabit Ethernet reliably delivers 940 Mbps sustained. WiFi 6 wins on peak speed under ideal conditions, but Ethernet wins on consistency, latency, and zero interference. For sustained large transfers Ethernet is still the better choice.
Does WiFi 6 160 MHz channel width actually help with 100 GB transfers?
Yes, but only in clean spectrum. 160 MHz channels double the per-device peak rate from ~1.2 Gbps to ~2.4 Gbps on WiFi 6, but they consume half of the 5 GHz band and are easily crowded. In dense apartment buildings 160 MHz channels often run worse than 80 MHz because of neighboring network interference.

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