How to choose an AP and how many devices can be connected to the wireless AP?

About the wireless AP, weak electrical engineers have the most contact most of the wireless projects will be used, so what brands of wireless ap? How to choose the AP? How many devices can be connected to the wireless AP? This issue we take these questions and the weak electrical industry network together to understand the content of this article.

A. What are the common brands of wireless APs?

We list some weak power commonly used wireless AP brand.

In addition to these brands above, Huatong, NETGEAR ,TOTOLINK, etc., is also our usual contact more brands, there are fewer people also have applications in the project, which Huawei, Ruijie, H3C, Cisco, etc. are more comprehensive network brands, have a good reputation in the industry.

B. the difference between “fat AP” and “thin AP”

1. What is a “fat AP”

“Fat AP” in addition to the previously mentioned wireless access features, generally also has a WAN, LAN ports, support DHCP server, DNS and MAC address cloning, VPN access, firewall, and other security features. “Fat AP” usually has its complete operating system, is a network device that can work independently, can achieve dial-up, routing, and other functions, a typical example is similar to our common wireless router.

“Fat AP” is simply understood as an AP with management functions. “Fat AP” is an AP with its management functions and also broadcasts SSID and connects to the terminal.

“Fat AP” work independently and need to be networked and configured one by one. Usually used for small WiFi coverage, due to its complex management, we look at the following “fat AP” and “thin AP” networking situation.

2. what is a “thin AP”

“Thin AP”, remove the routing, DNS, DHCP server, and many other loaded functions, only retaining the wireless access part. The AP we often refer to is this kind of “thin AP”, which is equivalent to a wireless switch or hub, providing only a wired/wireless signal conversion and wireless signal receiving/transmitting function. As a part of wireless LAN, “thin AP” cannot work independently and must be managed with AC to become a complete system.

“Thin AP” is without management function, it can be simply understood as an antenna for signal transmission and reception, and its management function is done by the back-end, which we call wireless controller (AC).

The “thin AP” needs to work with WLAN AC, switches, ARs, firewalls, etc. and is usually used to seamlessly roam a large range of WiFi coverage. Usually, when we say AP, the default refers to the mainstream application of “thin AP”, which is now the mainstream networking in shopping malls, supermarkets, attractions, hotels, restaurants and entertainment, corporate offices, etc.

3. how to choose a wireless AP?

In wireless coverage project, according to the network requirements and application scenarios to do wireless AP selection, which is an important reference factor for the amount of wireless AP with the machine. However, a single AP may not be able to achieve the amount of banding claimed by the business, because many factors affect the amount of wireless AP banding, broadband size, the number of access devices, chips, memory, etc., will become a factor affecting the amount of AP connected amount, it all starts with the working principle of wireless AP.

When selecting APs for wireless coverage, following should be considered：

Environmental characteristics: outdoor or indoor, sparse distribution of terminals (such as warehouses) or high-density wireless access (such as conference rooms, multi-function rooms, etc.).

Installation method: Ceiling, panel, or 86-box type.

Power supply: Standard PoE (802.3af or 802.3at), Passive PoE or DC (DC power).

Coverage: Single room, multiple rooms, area coverage, spot coverage, etc.

Frequency: 2.4g and 5.8g, single-band and dual-band.

Connected amount: 10, 20, 30 or 50 terminals in a single AP.

The connected amount of wireless APs on the market varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, ranging from 25, 50, 100, 200, etc. Is it accurate?

There is no standard answer to how many end-users can be connected to a wireless AP, because the network application of each use scenario is highly variable, and the terminal equipment used varies, so it is difficult to do so with a standard test method, so many manufacturers are using the typical application environment to estimate the connected amount.

Therefore, to ensure that the entire wireless network communication speed is not affected, a single AP needs to control the number of wireless terminal access, which is often referred to as the band capacity, to ensure that each terminal can get enough Internet bandwidth.

As for the impact of the hardware configuration of the wireless AP on its band capacity, mainly refers to two aspects of the chip and memory size. The better the chip, the greater the throughput; memory is also a factor that affects the band capacity.

D. wireless AP band capacity and what factors are related?

For example, we usually see it has a lot of parameters, basically every ap has these parameters, what do they mean?

Let’s analyze the common parameters of AP.

Ⅰ. dual-band and single-band.

Now the market is said to dual-band AP that support 2.4G and 5G AP. our general practical experience, single-band ap band capacity is difficult to exceed 40. And dual-band band capacity is much higher, 5.8G dual-band AP, the performance may reach single-band 2 times, so if it is a high-density access site, it is highly recommended to use dual-band AP.

Ⅱ. the difference between the frequency range 2.4g and 5g (why use dual-band).

2.4G frequency is the most widely used, almost all computers and smartphone devices are supported. But it is because it is so common that even microwave ovens are also using this band 2.4G, so interference is greater, and serious interference will lead to slower data transmission rates.

And 5G Wi-Fi is born to avoid the problem of mutual interference because this frequency is currently used less. The general 802.11ac technology based on the support of 5G wireless AP, can carry a higher transmission rate. 5G also has disadvantages, the biggest problem is the poor ability to penetrate the wall, 5G signal in the other a load-bearing wall after the signal attenuation has been very obvious.

The lower the frequency, the better the wall penetration. The higher the frequency, the faster the speed. 5G is not used much, basically no interference, so dual-band AP can be applied at the same time in these two frequencies.

Ⅲ. What is 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac?

First of all, 802.11 is a wireless LAN standard. 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac is developed from 802.11. The different suffixes represent different physical layer standard operating bands and different transmission rates, which means they have different physical layers and transmission speeds.

802.11b and 802.11g work on the same frequency band. g is compatible with b, which means that any NIC that supports g can support b.

The 802.11n protocol is a dual-band operating mode (containing both 2.4GHz and 5GHz operating bands). This 11n guarantees compatibility with the previous 802.11a b, g standards, which means we should look for 802.11n parameters when choosing an AP.

The new generation wifi standard 802.11 ac is developed from 802.11 n and has a higher speed than 802.11 n. Now the market is said to dual-band APs and routers that support 2.4G and 5G two frequencies.

Ⅳ. wireless rate?

Although many APs have wireless rates of 450Mbps, 600Mbps, 750Mbps, 1167Mbps, in fact, they can’t reach these, you can see the list below.

The actual rate is about half of the theoretical rate, we can use this table, the basis can be calculated from the maximum band capacity, now mainly used in the 802.11n standard AP.

The actual rate is between 80Mbps-360Mbps, so you can estimate the band capacity based on the bandwidth, basically, the upper limit is around 100, while the new generation of wifi standard 802.11 ac rate is higher, the band capacity will also be higher. Of course, the specific amount, but also according to the AP chip, memory, the use of the environment, and other factors related to.

Finally, the wireless router and wireless AP with the amount of machine, home wireless router with 8-15 terminals is the limit, the general wireless AP can take about 20-60 terminals.