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School Wi-Fi planning: classroom density and capacity
Last updated: October 9, 2026.
Schools need capacity more than reach: a classroom can hold 30 or more devices at once. Plan AP count from clients and throughput, not coverage alone.
What matters in a school
- Count concurrent devices per classroom, including phones.
- Classroom walls are often brick or concrete, so check each room gets its own strong signal.
- Test lessons and exams put every student online at once.
Settings to try in the planner
- Environment: Dense partitions.
- Concurrent clients: students and staff on that floor x about 1.5 devices.
- Target Mbps per client: raise it for video lessons.
- Minimum RSSI: -65 dBm.
Worked example with the planner's numbers
Take a ceiling access point at 20 dBm EIRP on 5 GHz, the planner's 8 dB link margin, a path-loss exponent of 2.7 and a target of -65 dBm. In open space the signal stays above the target for about 12.8 m. Walls then cut that reach (the planner scales wall loss by 1.2 at 5 GHz):
| Path | Reach at -65 dBm | Share of open-space reach |
|---|---|---|
| Open space | 12.8 m | 100% |
| Through a brick classroom wall (6 dB) | 6.9 m | 54% |
| Through a concrete wall (10 dB) | 4.6 m | 36% |
Each classroom wall costs reach, which supports one access point per classroom or per pair of rooms rather than corridor-only coverage. These are model values for planning; confirm them with an on-site survey.
Upload your floor plan and try it free: Open the Wi-Fi heatmap planner
Forecasts are planning estimates. Validate with an on-site survey before buying or installing equipment. See also the AP placement guide, the RSSI guide and planner pages by brand.
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