Real throughput / Goodput (L2–L4)
Calculate real goodput from nominal speed with MTU, TCP/UDP overhead, IPv4/IPv6, VLAN/PPPoE/MPLS, wire-rate, efficiency, sweep table, and CSV export.
Convert nominal speed to real goodput with L2–L4 overhead.
Real throughput / Goodput (L2–L4) with MTU and overhead
Calculate the usable rate (goodput) from link speed considering MTU, IPv4/IPv6, TCP/UDP, encapsulations (VLAN/PPPoE/MPLS), wire-rate, and losses. Includes layer breakdown, sweep table, A/B comparison, and CSV export.
Fill in the data and click calculate to see the goodput.
1) Configure the link
Define the speed, MTU, and IP/Transport.
2) Adjust overhead
Enable VLAN, PPPoE, MPLS, or wire-rate if applicable.
3) Review results
Check goodput, efficiency, pps, and copy key values.
Payload sweep table
| Useful payload | Bytes on-wire | Efficiency | Goodput | PPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculate to see the sweep. | ||||
Scenario A
Scenario B
How goodput is calculated
Fill in the data to see the step-by-step.
Frequently asked questions about real goodput
What is goodput and how does it differ from throughput?
Goodput is the useful application data rate, excluding L2–L4 headers and retransmissions. Throughput can include overhead and does not reflect real usable data.
Is the MTU shown L2 or IP?
In this calculator the MTU is the IP MTU (maximum layer 3 payload). That is why MSS or UDP payload is obtained by subtracting L3 and L4 headers.
What does the wire-rate option include?
Wire-rate adds IFG (12 bytes) and preamble + SFD (8 bytes) per frame. The FCS (4 bytes) is always counted inside the Ethernet frame.
How do VLAN, PPPoE, and MPLS affect results?
They are added as overhead per frame: 4 bytes per VLAN tag, 8 bytes per PPPoE, and 4 bytes per MPLS label.
How is goodput calculated with losses?
The lossless goodput is multiplied by (1 - loss). In TCP it is marked as approximate because real performance depends on RTT and window size.
What sizes appear in the sweep table?
It includes typical sizes (64–1024 bytes) plus MSS or maximum payload, and jumbo sizes when the MTU is 9000.
Can I export the results?
Yes. The Table/Sweep mode and the comparison tool allow CSV export with a configurable delimiter.
What is compare mode for?
It lets you analyze two scenarios (A and B) side by side, comparing goodput, efficiency, pps, and payload curves.
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