In brief
Size guest Wi-Fi for a café or a hotel with two simple formulas. How many Mbps, how many access points, and when the bottleneck is the uplink rather than the AP.
Start with the right question: how many devices at once?
Two questions come up when planning guest Wi-Fi: "How fast a line do I need?" and "How many access points (APs)?" Both answers come from the same number: concurrent connected devices. Not daily visitors; the devices actually moving data in the same minute.
The ratios below are our planning assumptions. They are a starting point, not measured customer results. After installation, watch the busy-hour report in the panel for a few weeks and adjust them to your venue.
Formula 1: Cafés, restaurants, bakeries
Required line = seats × concurrency ratio × average per-user consumption
- Seats: Count seats, not tables. Include the terrace.
- Concurrency ratio: In a full café only some seats connect, and not all of those pull data at the same time. 0.4–0.6 is a sensible starting range.
- Average per-user consumption: A plan cap and average consumption are different things. Our standard plan suggests a 10 Mbps download cap per guest, but for line sizing 2–3 Mbps per person is enough. Nobody hits the cap in the same second.
Example scenario: a café with 60 seats.
60 × 0.5 × 2.5 Mbps = 75 Mbps
A 100 Mbps line carries this café comfortably. You can still give each guest a 10 Mbps cap. The cap stops one person from swallowing the line; the average decides how big the line must be.
Formula 2: Hotels, serviced apartments, dormitories
Required line = rooms × devices per room × concurrency × average per-user consumption
- Devices per room: Phone plus laptop or tablet: 2–3.
- Concurrency: The peak is in the evening. Start with 0.3–0.5.
- Average per-user consumption: Our long-stay plan suggests a 15/5 Mbps cap. Video in rooms is common, so use 3 Mbps as the average.
Example scenario: an 80-room hotel.
80 × 2.5 × 0.4 × 3 Mbps = 240 Mbps
That is the evening peak; most of the day sits well below it. You buy the line for the peak, not for the average.
| Café (60 seats) | Hotel (80 rooms) | |
|---|---|---|
| Concurrent devices | 60 × 0.5 = 30 | 80 × 2.5 × 0.4 = 80 |
| Average consumption | 2.5 Mbps | 3 Mbps |
| Required line (download) | 75 Mbps | 240 Mbps |
| Suggested plan cap | 10/5 Mbps | 15/5 Mbps |
AP count: capacity and coverage are separate sums
AP count (capacity) = concurrent devices ÷ target clients per AP
Vendor sheets say "hundreds of clients"; the comfortable limit in practice is lower. Our assumption: 30–40 active clients per indoor Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 class AP. In a dense room where everyone streams video, drop to 25.
- Café: 30 concurrent devices ÷ 30 = 1 AP for capacity. Walls, floors and a terrace usually push that to 2.
- Hotel: 80 ÷ 30 ≈ 3 APs for capacity. But the signal will not reach into rooms unless there is an AP every 3–4 rooms along the corridor. In a hotel, coverage sets the AP count, not capacity.
The rule is simple: calculate capacity, measure coverage on site (a survey). The AP count is the larger of the two. Separate the guest network from staff with a VLAN and enable client isolation on the APs. These settings are brand-independent; the box does not care which AP you use.
When the bottleneck is the line, not the AP
The symptoms are familiar: full signal bars, slow speed. Everyone slows down at the same time. The AP's client count looks normal. Adding APs changes nothing here; the problem is the internet line.
Two fixes:
- Grow the line. Run the formula backwards: line ÷ (concurrent devices × average) must be at least 1.
- Lower the per-user cap. If the line is fixed, a lower cap gives everyone a more predictable experience. With 60 concurrent devices on a 100 Mbps line, a 5 Mbps cap is fairer than 10. You change the plan speed in one place on the box; the APs stay untouched.
Do not forget upload. Many lines are asymmetric, and video calls lean on upload. That is why our suggested 10/5 plan has the "5". If the line's upload is smaller than the combined upload caps, calls freeze.
The box's own limit
The Box + Software is designed for 250 concurrent users. That is devices with an open session at the same time, not daily visitors. Both examples above stay inside that limit. Planning a larger site? Get in touch and we will size it with you.
Quick checklist
- Count real seats or rooms; do not guess.
- Pick the concurrency ratio for your own busy hour; correct it with the panel report after the first month.
- Buy the line for the peak, not the average.
- Work out AP count for both capacity and coverage; take the larger.
- Check upload speed separately.
- Match the plan cap to your line; a high cap on a small line slows everyone.
More common questions are answered in the FAQ.