pjhtech Tools
Link & transport

Packets Per Second / Line Rate Calculator

Find the Ethernet frames per second that fit a link rate, including the time used by preamble and the gap between frames.

Input

Include Ethernet headers, any VLAN tags and the 4-byte FCS. Do not add preamble or the gap.

Reset restores the example inputs.

Local calculation · inputs are not sent to a server.

Result

Calculating the example…

Enter the complete Ethernet frame size, including VLAN tags and the four-byte FCS. Use the port’s MAC rate in Gbps. Packets per second is the theoretical rate for a continuous stream of frames of that size.

Example: At 1 Gbps, 64-byte frames allow about 1,488,095 packets per second. Each frame also uses an 8-byte preamble/SFD and an idle gap lasting as long as 12 bytes. The gap is not part of the frame.

Do not enter only the IP packet size or add preamble and gap to the frame input; they are included separately. PHY coding, FEC, scheduling and a device’s forwarding capacity are outside this calculation.

References