Network Utilisation Calculator

Work out network utilisation instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Network Utilisation Calculator

Link utilisation must be judged on peaks, not averages, because queueing and loss are driven by instantaneous rate. Common practice triggers an upgrade when sustained peak utilisation exceeds 70 percent, which leaves room for growth, for bursts hidden by polling intervals, and for the traffic shift that follows a redundant-path failure.

Formula

Utilisation

utilisation = throughput / link speed; headroom = link speed - peak throughput

Worked example

With the default values below, Network Utilisation Calculator returns Peak utilisation of 86.00%. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Link speedminimum 0.001 Mbps: 1,000 Mbps
Average throughputminimum 0 Mbps: 420 Mbps
Peak throughputminimum 0 Mbps: 860 Mbps
Upgrade thresholdaccepts 1–100 %: 70 %

Results

Peak utilisation: 86.00%
Average utilisation: 42.00%
Headroom at peak: 140.0 Mbps
Capacity status: Above the upgrade threshold - plan a capacity increase

Step by step

1Values used
2Utilisation
3Peak utilisation= 86.00
4Average utilisation= 42.00
5Headroom at peak= 140.0 Mbps
6Capacity status= Above the upgrade threshold - plan a capacity increase

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why upgrade at 70 percent rather than 90?

Because five-minute SNMP averages hide sub-second bursts that already cause loss, and because failover of a parallel link can double the load instantly.

Does utilisation mean the same on a shared medium?

No. Wi-Fi and other shared media degrade well before nominal capacity because of contention, so useful throughput caps far below 100 percent utilisation.