How many laptops to a wireless AP?

[Ted Roche]

Pam McLeod wrote:
> Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but I read this as the number of supported WIRED connections!  Many of the wireless routers also have several wired ports.  I really don't think this is talking about signal strength through the air - I've never heard of a WAP which will support hundreds of wireless clients simultaneously.
Yeah, I'm thinking that 20 is probably a conservative estimate, and so 
I'd better plan on at least two or three AP devices. I believe I can set 
them up on non-interfering channels and reach my target 25, possibly 
peak 35, without over-stressing the connections. There's going to have 
to be some empirical testing and we'll have to see as the space gets 
occupied what the distribution of 802-11g and 802-11n clients, how many 
folks have PDA/cellphones/widgets that also use the wireless.

Thanks, too, Pam for the home-model vs. the Cisco Enterprise comparison. 
I'll let folks know how it works out.

>  This is from the Cisco KB Wiki:
> "Solution #  K47828638
> Title  How many wireless clients an access point can support.
> Resolution  The Access Point can support up to 20 clients (PC) or 7/8 phones comfortably, which depends on the application.
> The AP has the physical capacity to handle 2048 MAC addresses. However, because the AP is a shared medium and acts as a wireless hub, the performance of each user decreases as the number of users increases on an individual AP. Ideally, not more than 24 clients ... "
>
> I have tried deploying a laptop cart of 18-22 laptops with Linksys units (this was 3 years ago), and it was a dismal failure.  I got, at most, 14 on simultaneously ... when I deployed 3 AP's in the same room, I could get a few more on.  My understanding is that home-quality units are just not powerful enough to deal with that many clients.  Other schools have had better success, and it must be due to the construction of the building and the quality of the spaces in which the APs are used.
>
> At that point, we deployed a Cisco Aironet enterprise AP (they are up around $500) and it was very successful.  We often have one laptop left out, but usually it just lags behind about 10 minutes (typically, we start up all of the laptops at once).  It is POE, so we provide the power at the switch and did not need to run an electrical outlet out to the location of the AP.
>
> Since then, we have moved to Aruba Wireless school-wide.  We have a centralized controller (less expensive than Cisco) and it configures our APs centrally.  We are working towards overlapping coverage (>1 AP) in each area of the building in which we provide wireless access.
>
> Pam McLeod
> Director of Technology, Alton School District
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