maximum number of users for a AP..

RouterOS General
1

Hi,
How is calculated the maximum number of users that can connect to an AP?

Thanks

2

It really depends on customers internet activity and how much bandwidth each user demands to have, but a very rough number with customers today video streaming, etc. 20-40 maybe

3

Ok, we suppose to have 4000 kbps of band on only an AP.
If there are 100 connected users every user will it have 40 kbps or if a user download 4000 kps will work only one?

Thanks

4

Hi,
For a lot of time nobody has responded to this thread, it’ s perhaps a mystery ?

Does someone know which it is the maximum number of users that an Ap can connect?

Perhaps airtime ?

http://www.aerohive.com/solutions/technology-behind-solution/maximizing-client-throughput

Thanks

5

How many people can fit in a room…?

Neither question is able to bring forth a meaningful answer without further information. Even then, Mikrotik places no limits on how many clients can connect to an AP, but, just because you could connect hundreds doesn’t means that’s workable either.

I read a nice article recently (can’t find the link right now) that went on to say that’s it better to think in terms of expected concurrent bandwidth availability, bearing in mind all the things that will affect your connection and it’s baseline bandwidth available. (Link Quality, interference etc).

Each scenario is different and may require careful planning and testing to see what’s feasible, and, if you’re providing this as a service to a n end user, then you need to think carefully if you’re going to over-sell bandwidth and how to manage QOS.

6

reasonably, under a 100, but if there is no requirement for quality, maybe more ?

7

Sorry but I haven’ t understood.. :frowning:

I have limited the single user to 2024 Kbps.
in the 801.11G the band is of 52 Mbps.
Can I connect 25 users at the most?

Thanks

8

you can connect as many people as you want, normally all users don’t download at their maximum rate all the time.

even if you connect more, and all off them download at the same time, the available speed will be distributed equally.

9

Have a look through these articles

http://shop.duxtel.com.au/article_info.php?articles_id=46

http://shop.duxtel.com.au/article_info.php?articles_id=51

http://shop.duxtel.com.au/article_info.php?articles_id=44

10

But because from a lot of parts is said that the maximum number of contemporary users is around 30?

Someone speaks of performances hardware

Someone speaks of airtime :

http://www.aerohive.com/pdfs/Aerohive-Whitepaper-Hi-Density%20Principles.pdf

**
First, determine how much airtime the target application will consume when used on
each device type by dividing the required throughput by the maximum TCP or UDP
throughput the device is capable of achieving. For example, a 1-Mbps standard
definition TCP video application running on an Apple iPad 2 that is capable of
achieving a maximum 30 Mbps of TCP throughput yields an airtime consumption of
3.33% per device on a particular channel. This means that every iPad 2 device
running the video application requires 3.33% of the capacity of a single access point
radio (assuming no outside noise or interference). Perform this calculation separately
for every device and application type that will be supported in the environment.
**

11

This only matters if you plan to guarantee some minimum download speed + ALL of the users will be downloading non-stop. In real life situation, this never happens. iPads are used for browsing and facebook, not for constant 30mbit video streams.

12

Ok but in line theoretical this is correct?

Thanks

13

Its all about balancing the variables:

  1. The amount of users
  2. The average usage of users.
  3. The average peak usage of users.
  4. The probability of users using the infrastructure at the same time.
  5. The capacity you can share between users.
  6. The capacity you are willing to share between users.
  7. The price you charge the users for the amount of data they use (per data package or per total capacity?)
  8. The cost price you are faced to make it all happening.
  9. The amount of money your are looking for as a reward of your effort. (You need to make a living…)

Now several of these variables have a direct influence on the others. The less you charge your customers the less you earn so the less you can spend on the infrastructure where the more users might want to use it.
Or the cheaper you can get your capacity in, the more profit you make, or the more money you can spend on infrastructure, or the less you can charge your clients…

The only real guide in here is that the bigger your client base will be the better the calculations will produce reliable averages. A 10K users network can handle peak usage better than a 10 users network.

But in becoming a bigger provider new variables come in place:

  1. You need more employees, overhead goes up.
  2. You need bigger backbones and better equipments. Overhead goes up.
  3. You can buy capacity in bigger quantities, cost price per mB goes down.
  4. You can buy your hardware in bigger quantities, cost price goes down.
  5. Your network has a bigger internal ‘buffer’ capacity, so overall peak capacity for client can go up.

So again, its all about making good business decisions (“guessing”) and balancing. Sometimes a decision might work out to be counter productive.

For instance, if you make your network good enough to watch streaming video for your users but to cover your extra hard work (and devices) you need now extra customers to pay for that, so you promote your new ‘superb’ service level, you might be faced with so many new users your network can’t handle it… you’re back a square one…

Providing internet is a business performed everywhere around the world. From very small number networks to multi million user networks. Some of these business never made a penny and still exist, others do make money but lost it in the competition, others yet again just can’t handle the technology advances and die because customers leave…
Who makes the best ‘guesses’ and has the evolvements on its side will prevail. Others will just loose if over time or in their best case, got bought out by the more capital strong business…

Going back to your level: We calculate that in nowadays market 20-40 users per AP is something that can work, although we see a tendency to go lower. (And that in fact conflicts with the spectrum usage, that is going worse this way).

14

Best explanation I have read in a long time, maybe should be pinned to FAQ section of wireless

15

not a mystery

i think is a wrong question, you cannot say a number without taking in count many other variables much more important and specific for each single scenario

wireless is not as simple as that