Network Upgrade ROI Calculator: Is Faster Ethernet Worth It?
This calculator works out how much time upgrading from 1 GbE to 2.5, 5 or 10 GbE would really save on your NAS copies. It runs your current and your upgraded network through the same model, with the drives in your NAS and your computer, so it shows when the network is the slowest part and when the drives are. Time saved is shown in full; money is shown only for the share of the copy you actually wait for.
A faster link only helps up to the next slowest part of the copy. In front of one hard drive, 10 GbE copies no faster than 2.5 GbE; between two NVMe SSDs it can copy several times faster. Tell the calculator what you copy, how often and what storage sits at each end, and it gives the time each copy would take before and after, the time saved per copy and per month, and what your NAS model needs for the faster speed. If you have measured a copy on your current network, enter that speed and it replaces the estimate for today.
Time saved per copy
…
Today
Upgraded
Time saved
| Period | Time saved |
|---|
Money (separate from the time saved)
What the upgrade needs
Assumptions this result used
How we calculate
- Both copies, one model. Today's copy and the upgraded copy go through the same calculation, with the same NAS storage, computer drive, files and direction. Only the network link changes. The time saved is the difference between the two, fast end against fast end and slow end against slow end.
- Speed. A copy runs at the slowest of: the drive it reads from, the network link, the drive it writes to, and your processing ceiling if you enter one. A faster network helps only until another part becomes the slowest.
- Network. A link moves an NTK planning share of its line rate as file data (the assumptions table below). 1 GbE is 125 MB/s at line rate, 2.5 GbE 312.5 MB/s, 5 GbE 625 MB/s and 10 GbE 1,250 MB/s.
- Storage. Hard drive, SSD and array speeds are NTK planning ranges. Arrays add speed for each drive that holds data, up to a ceiling for a typical desktop NAS; parity writes run below the striped rate; an Unraid array reads at one disk's speed.
- Files. Each file adds a small handling time on top of its bytes. That time does not shrink with a faster network, so many small files save less.
- Measured speed. If you enter today's measured speed, it replaces today's estimate as it is. The upgraded copy is still worked out from your storage, so the saving never assumes the network was the only limit.
- Money. Kept apart from time. Money = time saved × the share of the copy you wait for (all of it, some of it, or none) × your hourly rate. With your upgrade cost, the payback is that cost divided by the money saved a month. An unattended copy saves time but no money.
- Upgrade path. From your NAS model's built-in ports and PCIe slots as the vendor's spec states them. A port or slot we have no record of is treated as unknown, never as absent.
- Units. Decimal: 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes, 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Network speeds in megabits per second, drive speeds in megabytes per second, 8 bits to a byte.
These are planning estimates, not benchmarks of your hardware. Each assumption is listed below with its kind; compare the result with a real copy and enter your measured speed.
Worked examples
All five copy 500 GB of large files to a computer with an NVMe SSD.
A four-bay NAS, 1 GbE to 2.5 GbE. From 4 x 7,200 RPM drives in RAID 5, the copy takes 1 h 11 min to 1 h 24 min over 1 GbE and 28 min to 34 min over 2.5 GbE. The network is the slowest part both times, so the upgrade saves 43 min to 50 min per copy.
The same NAS, 1 GbE to 10 GbE. Now the drives are the slowest part: they read 306 to 459 MB/s, so the copy takes 18 min to 27 min and saves 53 min to 56 min. 5 GbE gives the same 18 min to 27 min: in front of these drives, the extra line rate of 10 GbE goes unused.
One hard drive, 1 GbE to 10 GbE. A single 7,200 RPM drive is slower than any link above 1 GbE, so the upgrade saves 14 min to 25 min, and 2.5 GbE gives the same 46 min to 1 h 10 min as 10 GbE.
An overnight backup nobody waits for. The four-bay NAS copying 500 GB every night, 1 GbE to 2.5 GbE, saves 21 h 34 min to 1 day 1 h of copying a month. With "None" chosen for how much of the transfer you wait for, that is no paid time and no money: the backup finishes sooner, but nobody was waiting for it.
An editor who waits for every copy. From an NVMe SSD pool, once a week, 1 GbE to 10 GbE, each copy saves 1 h 4 min to 1 h 15 min. With "All of it" chosen, that is 4 h 37 min to 5 h 25 min of paid time a month; multiply by your hourly rate for its value.
What each Ethernet link can carry
| Link | Line rate (MB/s) | Planning range (MB/s) | 500 GB, network only |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 Mbps Ethernet | 12.5 | 10 to 11.8 | 11 h 49 min to 13 h 53 min |
| 1 GbE | 125 | 100 to 117.5 | 1 h 11 min to 1 h 23 min |
| 2.5 GbE | 312.5 | 250 to 293.8 | 28 min to 33 min |
| 5 GbE | 625 | 500 to 587.5 | 14 min to 17 min |
| 10 GbE | 1,250 | 1,000 to 1,175 | 7 min to 8 min |
Network only: the time if nothing else were slower. Drives and file handling add to it, which is why the calculator asks for them.
The assumptions behind the estimate
| Assumption | Kind | Source |
|---|---|---|
| NTK planning assumption: a wired Ethernet link moves 80% to 94% of its line rate as file data, after protocol overhead | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: one 7,200 RPM hard drive moves 120 to 180 MB/s sequentially (Unraid documents 70 to 250 MB/s across drives) | NTK planning assumption | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| NTK planning assumption: one 5,400 RPM class hard drive moves 80 to 140 MB/s sequentially (Unraid documents 70 to 250 MB/s across drives) | NTK planning assumption | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| A SATA SSD moves 400 to 550 MB/s sequentially (typical range in the Unraid documentation) | Source figure | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| NTK planning assumption: an NVMe SSD sustains 1,500 to 3,500 MB/s sequentially | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: striped arrays add 85% of one drive's speed for each drive that holds data | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: a mirror reads about 1.3 times as fast as one drive, because reads can come from either copy | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: large sequential writes to RAID 5 or RAID 6 run at 60% to 90% of the striped rate of the data drives, for parity work and partial stripes | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: a typical desktop NAS tops out around 640 to 800 MB/s from a hard drive array, however many drives it has (controller and CPU) | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: an SSD pool writes at about 90% of its read speed | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| Unraid array write, Read/Modify/Write (the default): typically 20 to 40 MB/s (Unraid documentation) | Source figure | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| Unraid array write, Turbo Write (reconstruct write): typically 40 to 120 MB/s, with every array drive spinning (Unraid documentation) | Source figure | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| NTK planning assumption: each file costs 5 to 20 milliseconds of handling (create, metadata, close) on a single-threaded copy, on top of its bytes | NTK planning assumption | Microsoft Learn, checked 2026-10-07 |
| NTK planning assumption: "large files" means an average file of about 1 GB (video, disk images, archives) | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: "mixed files" means an average file of about 5 MB (photos, documents, music) | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
| NTK planning assumption: "many small files" means an average file of about 100 KB (source code, thumbnails, mail) | NTK planning assumption | NTK |
Cabling for 2.5, 5 and 10 GbE
- 2.5 GbE was designed to run over existing Cat5e cable: the IEEE 802.3bz objectives define it over at least 100 m of Cat5e, on defined use cases and deployment configurations (IEEE 802.3 Working Group, checked 2026-10-07). Existing Cat5e is not, by itself, a reason to recable.
- 5 GbE was also designed for existing Cat5e (up to 100 m on defined use cases in the IEEE 802.3bz objectives (IEEE 802.3 Working Group, checked 2026-10-07)), but on long or tightly bundled Cat5e runs it may not reach full distance: Cisco supports 45 m of bundled Cat5e at 5 Gbps and recommends Cat6A to be sure (Cisco (Catalyst 9350 hardware installation guide), checked 2026-10-07). Try your existing cable first and recable only the runs that do not link at 5 GbE.
- 10 GbE over Ethernet cable needs Cat6 for runs up to 55 m or Cat6A up to 100 m (Cisco (Catalyst 9350 hardware installation guide), checked 2026-10-07). SFP+ ports use direct-attach cables or fibre modules instead of Ethernet cable.
Network hardware price reference
Market prices across the Australian retailers NTK tracks, updated daily. Products we do not track show no price. Enter your own total in the calculator: what you need depends on your NAS, your computer and how many devices need the faster speed.
| Product | Type | AU market price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TP-Link TL-SG108 | 8-port 1 GbE switch | Check current retailer prices | Unmanaged, 1 GbE on every port |
| TP-Link TL-SX105 | 5-port 10 GbE switch | about $426 | Unmanaged |
| Synology DS925+ | 4-bay NAS | about $1,099 | 2 x 2.5 GbE built in; no PCIe slot, so there is no 10 GbE upgrade path (vendor spec) |
| QNAP TS-464 | 4-bay NAS | about $1,100 | 2 x 2.5 GbE built in; 1 PCIe slot, so 10 GbE needs a PCIe network card from the vendor's list (vendor spec) |
Your home network and your internet are separate
nbn's fastest home upload is 200 Mbps (25 MB/s, Home Hyperfast on FTTP), far below the 125 MB/s line rate of a 1 GbE home network, so a faster home network does not speed up uploads, offsite or cloud backups, or remote access to your NAS. Downloads on Home Ultrafast and Home Hyperfast (up to 2,000 Mbps) reach or pass 1 GbE's line rate, so on those tiers a computer on 1 GbE can be the limit for downloads. Where nbn gives a range, the maximum can fall anywhere in it, and providers sell plans at or below these wholesale speeds (nbn Co speed plans, checked 2026-10-07).
For copies over the internet, use the File Transfer Speed Estimator or the Cloud Backup Time Estimator.
Facts this page uses
Each fact below is taken from the publisher's own page and was re-found at the source on the date shown.
| Fact | Applies to | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ethernet cabling | ||
| The IEEE 802.3bz objectives define 2.5 Gb/s over at least 100 m of Cat5e, and 5 Gb/s over at least 100 m of Cat6 and up to 100 m of Cat5e, in both Cat5e cases on defined use cases and deployment configurations. | IEEE 802.3bz project objectives approved by IEEE 802.3, March 2015 (the objectives the 2016 standard was written to; not the standard text itself, which is paywalled) | IEEE 802.3 Working Group, checked 2026-10-07 |
| Cisco documents its Multigigabit ports running 2.5 and 5 Gbps on Cat5e, and 10 Gbps on Cat6 up to 55 m or Cat6A up to 100 m. | Cisco Catalyst 9350 Multigigabit ports (a vendor's switch documentation, not the IEEE standard) | Cisco (Catalyst 9350 hardware installation guide), checked 2026-10-07 |
| Cisco says that above 2.5 Gbps, traditional Cat5e channel specifications do not support the full 100 m reach, recommends Cat6A to ensure 5 Gbps link speeds, and gives 45 m as the bundled Cat5e length it supports at 5 Gbps. | Cisco Catalyst 9350 Multigigabit ports, reusing an existing cable plant | Cisco (Catalyst 9350 hardware installation guide), checked 2026-10-07 |
| Two ports, SMB and small files (Microsoft) | ||
| Without SMB Multichannel, one SMB session uses a single network adapter, so two 1 GbE adapters cannot give 2 Gbps to that session. With Multichannel, SMB can use the combined bandwidth of the adapters. | Windows Server / Azure Local SMB 3.x | Microsoft Learn, checked 2026-10-07 |
| A NIC team without SMB Multichannel still gives SMB only one TCP/IP connection, which limits how much of the team's bandwidth one transfer can use. | Windows Server / Azure Local SMB 3.x | Microsoft Learn, checked 2026-10-07 |
| Copying large numbers of small files (under 1 MB each) is slow by design with single-threaded copy tools: every file has a fixed creation cost, so more time goes on creating files than on moving their data. | SMB file copies with File Explorer and other single-threaded copy tools | Microsoft Learn, checked 2026-10-07 |
| Drive speeds (Unraid) | ||
| Unraid's documentation gives typical sequential speeds of 70 to 250 MB/s for a single hard drive (depending on model, age and where the data sits) and 400 to 550 MB/s for a SATA SSD. | Unraid classic array and pools (docs, array overview) | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| Unraid's documentation gives typical array write speeds of 20 to 40 MB/s for Read/Modify/Write (the default) and 40 to 120 MB/s for Turbo Write (reconstruct write), which needs every array drive spinning and healthy. | Unraid classic array (docs, array overview) | Unraid documentation, checked 2026-10-07 |
| nbn speed tiers (nbn co) | ||
| nbn speeds are wholesale: the maximum nbn provides to internet providers. Where a tier is a range, the maximum can fall anywhere in it, and the lower figure is not a minimum speed. | nbn wholesale residential speed tiers (what nbn sells to providers, not retail speeds) | nbn co (nbnco.com.au), checked 2026-10-07 |
| nbn Home Hyperfast: 2000 Mbps download; upload 200 Mbps on FTTP and 100 Mbps on HFC. Available on FTTP and HFC only. | nbn wholesale residential speed tiers (what nbn sells to providers, not retail speeds) | nbn co (nbnco.com.au), checked 2026-10-07 |
| nbn Home Ultrafast: about 1000 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload. Available on FTTP and HFC only. | nbn wholesale residential speed tiers (what nbn sells to providers, not retail speeds) | nbn co (nbnco.com.au), checked 2026-10-07 |
NAS ports and PCIe slots: 143 models from NTK's spec record, each taken from the vendor's own specification, exported 2026-10-14. The calculator shows the vendor source for the model you choose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 10GbE worth it for a home NAS?
Only when the storage at both ends of the copy can move data faster than 2.5 GbE carries it. Under NTK's planning assumptions a 2.5 GbE link carries 250 to 293.8 MB/s of file data and 10 GbE 1,000 to 1,175 MB/s, while one 7,200 RPM hard drive moves 120 to 180 MB/s and four of them in RAID 5 read about 306 to 459 MB/s. A copy runs at its slowest part, so in front of one or two hard drives 10 GbE gives nothing over 2.5 GbE, a four-drive array or SATA SSDs use part of it, and NVMe storage at both ends can use all of it. Enter your own storage in the calculator to see the time each link would actually save.
Do I need to replace my Ethernet cabling?
The IEEE 802.3bz objectives define 2.5 Gb/s over at least 100 m of Cat5e, and 5 Gb/s over at least 100 m of Cat6 and up to 100 m of Cat5e, in both Cat5e cases on defined use cases and deployment configurations. Cisco says that above 2.5 Gbps, traditional Cat5e channel specifications do not support the full 100 m reach, recommends Cat6A to ensure 5 Gbps link speeds, and gives 45 m as the bundled Cat5e length it supports at 5 Gbps. Cisco documents its Multigigabit ports running 2.5 and 5 Gbps on Cat5e, and 10 Gbps on Cat6 up to 55 m or Cat6A up to 100 m. So existing Cat5e is not, by itself, a reason to recable for 2.5 GbE or 5 GbE: try the link first and recable only the runs that do not connect at the speed you want. For 10 GbE over Ethernet cable, plan on Cat6 within 55 m or Cat6A beyond that.
What's the cheapest way to get faster NAS transfers?
Start with what limits the copy, which the calculator names. If it is the network, check what you already have. Of the 142 NAS models in NTK's spec record with network port data, 114 have a 2.5 GbE or faster port built in, so choose yours in the calculator to see its ports. Often only the computer's side and any switch in between need changing, and for a single computer a direct cable to the NAS avoids buying a switch. USB network adapters work only on the NAS models and system versions the vendor supports, so check your NAS vendor's compatibility list before relying on one. If storage limits the copy, a faster network will not help; faster drives or SSDs will.
Do I need a switch, or can I connect the NAS straight to my computer?
For one computer and one NAS, a direct cable between them works without a switch; most current Ethernet ports detect a direct cable automatically (auto MDI-X). A switch is needed when several devices need the faster speed, and then every switch port on the path has to support it, or that port becomes the slowest link.
Will my NAS drives limit the network upgrade?
Often, yes: a copy runs at the speed of its slowest part. Under NTK's planning assumptions one 7,200 RPM hard drive moves 120 to 180 MB/s, already below the 250 to 293.8 MB/s a 2.5 GbE link carries, so beyond 2.5 GbE a single drive gains nothing. Arrays add speed for each drive that holds data: four 7,200 RPM drives in RAID 5 read about 306 to 459 MB/s, and NTK assumes a typical desktop NAS tops out around 640 to 800 MB/s from hard drives however many there are. Real drives vary by model, capacity and where on the disk the data sits, so if you have measured a copy, enter that speed instead. The drive in your computer counts too: a hard drive there limits copies to it the same way.
2.5GbE, 5GbE or 10GbE: which should I choose?
Their line rates are 2.5, 5 and 10 times that of 1 GbE, but a copy only gets faster up to its slowest part. Under NTK's planning assumptions 2.5 GbE carries 250 to 293.8 MB/s, 5 GbE 500 to 587.5 MB/s and 10 GbE 1,000 to 1,175 MB/s. The slowest link that is still faster than your storage at both ends gives the same time as any faster one, and the calculator says when that is the case for your copy. Then compare the parts each speed would need for your NAS, computer and switch.
Do I need a managed switch or will unmanaged work?
For a simple NAS-to-computer setup an unmanaged switch is fine. A managed switch adds features such as VLANs (network segmentation), link aggregation (LACP), QoS and port mirroring; pay for them only if you will use them. Unmanaged switches exist at 10 GbE too, such as the TP-Link TL-SX105 in our price reference on this page.
My NAS already has 2.5GbE. Do I still need to upgrade anything?
A copy runs at the slowest link on its path. If your NAS has 2.5 GbE but your computer, or a switch port in between, is 1 GbE, the copy runs at 1 GbE. Give the computer a 2.5 GbE port (built in, a card or an adapter) and use either a 2.5 GbE switch port or a direct cable to the NAS.
Does a faster network pay for itself?
Only through time someone would otherwise spend waiting. The calculator always shows the full time saved, then asks how much of the transfer you actually wait for: all of it, some of it (counted as 50%) or none. Money is the time saved, multiplied by that share and by your hourly rate, so a faster overnight backup that nobody waits for saves time but no money. If you enter what the upgrade costs you, it also shows how long the paid time saved takes to cover it.
Will a faster home network speed up my internet?
nbn's fastest home upload is 200 Mbps (25 MB/s, Home Hyperfast on FTTP), far below the 125 MB/s line rate of a 1 GbE home network, so a faster home network does not speed up uploads, offsite or cloud backups, or remote access to your NAS. Downloads on Home Ultrafast and Home Hyperfast (up to 2,000 Mbps) reach or pass 1 GbE's line rate, so on those tiers a computer on 1 GbE can be the limit for downloads.
Do two network ports or two adapters double my speed?
Without SMB Multichannel, one SMB session uses a single network adapter, so two 1 GbE adapters cannot give 2 Gbps to that session. With Multichannel, SMB can use the combined bandwidth of the adapters. A NIC team without SMB Multichannel still gives SMB only one TCP/IP connection, which limits how much of the team's bandwidth one transfer can use. So two ports give one copy one link's speed unless SMB Multichannel is active at both ends. And a single 2.5 GbE link has up to 2.5 times the line rate of 1 GbE; the time you actually save depends on the slowest part of your copy, which the calculator works out.
Does the calculator use GB or GiB?
Decimal units throughout: 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes and 1 TB is 1,000 GB, the way drives are sold. Network speeds are in megabits per second (Mbps or Gbps) and storage speeds in megabytes per second (MB/s); 8 bits make a byte, so 1 GbE is 125 MB/s before overhead, and the calculator plans for 80% to 94% of that.
Method last reviewed: 2026-10-14. Facts checked 2026-10-07.