How many maximum clients are supported by cisco aironet 1262 AP and also by a 5500 Wireless Controller?

[kazembemalvin]

       How many maximum clients are supported by cisco aironet 1262 AP and also by a 5500 Wireless Controller?

[Leo Laohoo]

The model of the AP and the WLC doesn't make a difference.  It all boils down to what kind of wireless traffic you are trying to push.

Cisco recommends a rule-of-thumb of 25 clients per AP.

But, say, you are pushing emails and HTML then this number can go as high as 35 clients per AP.  However, if you are pushing HD video then the number is about 5 clients to an AP.

[akisbouza]

As found in Cisco's Document

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/controller/7.0MR1/configuration/guide/cg_controller_setting.html#wp2081380

Client Association Limits for Lightweight Access Points

The Per-AP limits are as follows:

•For 16-MB APs, the limit is 128 clients per AP. This limit is applicable to 1100 and 1200 series APs.

•For 32-MB and higher APs, there is no per-AP limit.

The per-radio limits are as follows:

•For all Cisco IOS APs, the limit is 200 associations per radio.

With 32-MB and higher lightweight Cisco IOS APs, with two radios, up to 200 + 200 = 400 associations are supported.

Client Association Limits for  Autonomous Cisco IOS Access Points

The client association limits for autonomous Cisco IOS access points are as follows:

The limit is around 80 to 127 clients per AP. This number varies depending on the following factors:

•AP model (whether it is 16 MB or 32 MB or higher).

•Cisco IOS version.

•Hardware configuration (two radios use more memory than one).

•Enabled features (WDS functionality in particular).

The per-radio limits are as follows:

The per-radio limit is about 200 associations. One association will likely hit the per-AP limit first.

Unlike Cisco Unified Wireless Network, autonomous Cisco IOS supports per-SSID/per-AP association limits. This limit is configured using the max-associations CLI, under dot11 SSID. The maximum number is 255 associations (which is also the default number).

Regards Akis

[Scott Fella · Accepted solution]

Just to add... The 5508 supports up to 7000 clients and 500 WAPs.

Now the max count an AP can handle doesn't mean that that is the number you should reference when deploying APs. Like Leo mentioned, 25 clients per AP is the rule of thumb. Depending on the application that will be used on the wireless, you can oversubscribe the gigabit port on the AP. I have tested video for a client and the max number of clients per AP was 5. I have seen 50+ clients on an AP using http and email with no issues. Just remember that wireless is half duplex and adjacent APs that are on the same channel share that space. Only on device can talk at a time.

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[Leo Laohoo]

In addition to Scott's post, let me add a few more tidbits:

1.  There's a whole lot of difference between what's been said in marketing documents and real-world scenario.  I'm answering in real-world scenario.

2.  My question to the OP is this:  Describe your LAN.  If your LAN is comprised of, say, 10/100BaseTx switch with 1 Gbps backplane AND THEN you want to stick 802.11n/uc AP, then my recommendation to you is this:  FORGET IT.  Think about the bandwidth a client with 802.11n/ac can push and you're uplink will get choked very, very quickly.  If you want to deploy 802.11n, then you need to have (at least) 1 Gbps to each port facing the AP and 1/10Gbps on the uplink.

For all Cisco IOS APs, the limit is 200 associations per radio.

I will never follow this number.