How many devices can be connected to a single Access point?

[AndrewEscobar]

Hello, recently I moved from DAS planing (indoor cellular) to wifi planning and I have a question for Access point user capacity, you see the datasheet says it can handle 250 devices however I talked to many designers and they said most AP can handle between 30-50 devices, now I need to know how many devices I can connect to achieve a target of 8Mbps / device (I need a solid formula to convince my customer) , can you help me?

[balaji.bandi]

here is good document :

https://community.cisco.com/t5/wireless-mobility-documents/how-many-clients-can-be-connected-to-an-access-point/ta-p/3115019

same question here :

https://community.cisco.com/t5/wireless-and-mobility/how-many-devices-can-be-connected-to-a-single-access-point/td-p/3899022

[Haydn Andrews]

For capacity check out:

Couple of things that are going to come into play, data rates, client capabilities, this blog shows that there is more things to take into consideration, it also shows some formulas and how different clients can have a big affect on the throughput:

http://divdyn.com/wi-fi-throughput/

there is also this great capacity planner:

http://www.revolutionwifi.net/capacity-planner

If you have just come over to WIFI also recommend checking out the CWNA course from CWNP.com it will cover a lot of wireless fundamentals from a vendor natural point of view. Also the Ekahau courses are great around designing wireless

[Leo Laohoo]

If you want this to be done right then you need a wireless site survey done correctly.