It depends on the speed of the hard wired laptop to be able to receive it. If the laptop has a network card adapter which is a 10/100 speed, it will be received at that speed. It if has a 1 Gigabit speed it will be received at that speed which is faster. But then it also depends on the speed of the amount of your memory to take it in as well as the hard drive to be able to write it. Your functional speed is only as fast as your slowest link which means the many different components involved in whatever process you are initiating. That is why when you buy a new computer you usually want to ensure that all of the components are the fastest, which usually translates into more money. But, you get what you pay for. But, if your system is seemingly slower, you can always transfer files overnight. Hope this helps. If whatever end is receiving or transferring, is the slowest link, that is the speed at which your process will be finished.