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WiFi Client Capacity Calculator

Calculate WiFi client capacity and per-user throughput per access point

WiFi 6 (802.11ax) supports OFDMA and MU-MIMO for higher density. WiFi 5 (ac) uses wider channels. WiFi 4 (n) is legacy.
Wider channels provide more bandwidth. 802.11g only supports 20 MHz. 802.11ac supports up to 160 MHz. 802.11ax supports up to 160 MHz.
Number of MIMO spatial streams. Each stream roughly multiplies throughput. Enterprise APs typically support 2-4 streams; most clients support 1-2.
Percentage of airtime used for management frames, beacons, contention, and retransmissions. Typical 30-50% overhead in real deployments.
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Capacity Results

Theoretical Max PHY RateMbps
Total AP Throughput (practical)Mbps
Recommended Max Clients
Per-Client Throughput (@ max clients)Mbps
Per-Client for HD Video (25 Mbps)clients
Per-Client for Web Browsing (2 Mbps)clients
References: IEEE 802.11ax max PHY rates from MCS tables. Practical throughput typically 50-70% of PHY rate. Client capacity recommendations based on Cisco and Aruba deployment guides.