Wi-Fi AP Planner.
Wi-Fi coverage is a function of standard, ceiling, walls and density. The planner walks each axis, hex-packs the coverage and tells you when density — not coverage — is the binding constraint.
- Standards
- 6 · 6E · 7
- Materials
- 5 profiles
- Density tiers
- 4
- Cell model
- Hex-packed
· Coverage preview · hex-packed cell layout
4 APs / floor
Air plan · Wi-Fi 6E (6 GHz)
4 APs across 1 floor
Effective per-AP radius lands at 9.4 m after mixed (drywall + brick) attenuation — coverage and density both checked, the higher of the two governs.
Recommended APs
4
4 per floor × 1
Effective AP radius
9.4 m
230 m² per AP (hex-packed)
Concurrent clients
48
6 per 100 m² profile
PoE budget (with headroom)
130 W
IEEE 802.3at (PoE+)
- By coverage alone4 APs / floor
- By density alone1 APs / floor
- Switch ports needed5
- AP capex (indicative)₹ 2.1 L
Assumptions driving this recommendation↓ expand
- AP standard
- Wi-Fi 6E (6 GHz)
- Open-air radius
- 12 m
- Material derating
- × 0.78
- Ceiling derating
- n/a
- Cell-overlap model
- Hex-packed · ~2.6 r² per cell
- Client density
- 6 / 100 m²
- Clients per AP
- 60 concurrent
- PoE per AP
- 25 W
- PoE headroom
- 30%
- Channel pool
- 14 non-overlapping
Engineering caveats
- Comfortable: 4 APs per floor against 14 non-overlapping channels — no reuse pressure.
Operationally sensible ecosystem
Brands grouped by engineering role — not random logos.
Wi-Fi access
High-density Wi-Fi 6E / Wi-Fi 7
- HPE Aruba 530Wi-Fi 6E for enterprises
- Cisco Catalyst 9120Wi-Fi 6E with controller
Network backbone
Core switching + routing + firewall
- HPE Aruba 6100L2 managed PoE+ for mid-market
- Cisco Catalyst 1300L2 managed PoE+ alternative
- FortiGateMid-market UTM firewall
Indicative AP count — production designs follow a predictive Wi-Fi heatmap (Ekahau / Hamina) overlaid on the architectural drawing and a post-install validation survey. Material radius factors are calibrated against Cisco / Aruba propagation guides; site-specific surveys govern the final AP schedule.
Translate into a briefCoverage vs density — the higher governs
A 1,200 m² auditorium needs maybe 3 APs for coverage but 8–12 APs for 500 concurrent clients. The plan picks the larger number; coverage is rarely the binding constraint above medium density.
6 GHz behaves differently
Wi-Fi 6E and 7 unlock 6 GHz channels, but 6 GHz attenuates worse through brick and concrete than 5 GHz. Mixed deployments win on open plates and lose on partitioned offices.
Mount low, mount many
Auditoriums and arenas mount APs to seat-back rails or under-seat — not the ceiling — because high client counts at low elevation overwhelm ceiling APs. The radius math still applies; the mount point changes.
Hand the plan to a survey tool
Brief-stage AP counts establish the first budget, switch-port count and riser plan. The next step is always a predictive heatmap on the actual architectural drawing and a Day-2 walk-survey with a 4×4 MIMO laptop.
· Engineering advisory · Wi-Fi AP Planner
What the AP count predicts about the network.
The recommended AP count is the brief-stage budget. The deployment requires the predictive survey, the validation walk and the day-two operational discipline below.
Deployment observations
- The planner's AP count is the larger of coverage-driven and density-driven — for typical offices the two converge; for auditoriums, stadia and large classrooms density is decisively the binding constraint and the AP count climbs steeply with concurrent client volume.
- Ceiling-mounted omni antennas above 4.5 m progressively under-perform as ceiling height grows; above 8 m the design pattern shifts to directional sector antennas or strut-mounted APs, not larger omni density.
- The 6 GHz channel pool (Wi-Fi 6E / 7) is the headroom that lets dense deployments avoid channel-contention spirals at high client count — Wi-Fi 6-only deployments hit the 5 GHz channel-reuse wall earlier than the AP count suggests.
Environmental considerations
- Wall and partition material is the single largest variable in real-world coverage — drywall costs ~3 dB per partition, brick 8–12 dB, reinforced concrete 15–25 dB. The planner's published mean is a baseline; the predictive survey adjusts against the actual building.
- Glass partitions, especially low-E glass, reflect and absorb 5 GHz more than the catalogue suggests — modern office fit-outs with full-height glass partitions need denser AP placement than the open-floor calculation predicts.
- Outdoor coverage zones (campus walkways, parking, perimeter) need IP-rated APs with directional antennas; indoor-rated APs in semi-outdoor mounts fail at the first monsoon.
Commissioning discipline
- Predictive survey on the architectural drawing replaces the planner's hex-pack with placement against actual partitions, riser locations and ceiling fixtures — the predictive output is what the cable plant should be sized against.
- Day-two validation walk with a measurement device confirms the modelled performance against the actual installation; the documented walk is the test of whether the deployment meets brief.
- BSS coloring, DFS and band-steering are commissioning-stage decisions, not catalogue defaults — the channel plan is documented per floor against the AP count and the channel pool available in the deployment's market.
Operational notes
- AP firmware and controller-software lifecycle is on the AMC calendar — high-density deployments are sensitive to driver-side regressions in client roaming behaviour after major releases.
- PoE+ budget at the access switch is the second-order constraint — Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 APs draw 30–40 W under load; the switch's PoE budget at full AP count is the test of whether the cable-plant sizing is honest.
Expansion readiness
- A 25% AP-count headroom against the projected client-density curve gives the deployment a 3–5 year horizon before the next densification pass; structured-cabling drops should be pulled to the same headroom so additional APs do not need new pulls.
- The 6 GHz channel pool is the expansion lever for dense deployments — Wi-Fi 6E or 7 specifications give the deployment room to add density without channel-contention spirals.
· Why air planning matters
An auditorium with 600 seats needs only three APs for coverage at Wi-Fi 6 — but more than a dozen for client density at full house. Sizing against coverage alone undershoots; sizing against client count without modelling material attenuation overshoots. The planner shows both numbers side by side and explains which one governs.
· Frequently asked
Wi-Fi AP Planner —
what people ask first.
What's the difference between coverage-driven and density-driven sizing?
Coverage-driven sizing asks 'how many APs to wash signal across the floor.' Density-driven sizing asks 'how many APs to give every concurrent client a fair share of airtime.' The two answers diverge above ~6 clients per 100 m². The plan picks the larger of the two so neither breaks.
Why does material change the radius so much?
Drywall costs maybe 3 dB per partition; brick costs 8–12 dB; reinforced concrete with rebar can absorb and reflect 15–25 dB. A 5 GHz signal that propagates 14 m through open air drops to 8–9 m through brick partitions and 6–7 m through concrete. The radius-factor in the planner is the published industry mean against open air.
Should I always pick Wi-Fi 7?
Not always. Wi-Fi 7 with MLO is the right choice for very high density (auditoriums, classrooms above 30 clients), or where 4×4 streaming AV-over-IP and AR/VR clients are part of the design. Most offices still get excellent service from Wi-Fi 6E. The standard you pick should be tied to the slowest client device the network must serve well — laptops, IoT controllers, surgical theatres — not the fastest.
How is the AP count affected by ceiling height?
Above 4.5 m, omni-directional ceiling APs spread RF energy over a wider sphere — clients at floor level get a weaker signal because they're further from the AP. The planner derates the effective radius by 4% per metre above 4.5 m. Above 8 m, the correct answer is usually directional sector antennas or strut-mounted APs rather than ceiling mounts.
What about channel reuse?
Wi-Fi 6 has nine non-overlapping 5 GHz channels (twenty-MHz, DFS included). Wi-Fi 6E adds the 6 GHz pool — fourteen non-overlapping channels in India. Wi-Fi 7 inherits both. The planner warns when AP count per floor exceeds the channel pool, which is when channel-plan automation, BSS coloring and DFS become mandatory rather than optional.
· Begin
Take the plan to a
predictive survey.
Brief-stage AP counts establish the first budget and riser plan. The right next step is a predictive heatmap on the actual architectural drawing and a Day-2 validation walk.