Mesh Wi-Fi Calculator
Estimate throughput at the edge of a wireless mesh after per-hop backhaul loss, for shared-radio and dedicated-backhaul designs.
Inputs
Throughput at the Edge Node
100.0Mbps
Throughput Lost Across the Mesh
87.5%
Loss Applied per Hop
50%
Throughput per Serving Node
16.67Mbps
Assessment
Too many shared-radio hops — add a dedicated backhaul radio or a wired uplink
Step by step
Values used
Throughput at the root node = 800 Mbps; Hops from root to edge node = 3 hops; Dedicated backhaul radio (not shared with clients) = No; Per-hop loss with a dedicated backhaul = 20 %; Client-serving nodes sharing the edge link = 6 nodes
Mesh Wi-Fi
edge throughput = root throughput × (1 − per-hop loss)^hops, where a client-sharing radio loses 50% per hop because it must receive and retransmit each frame.
Throughput at the Edge Node
= 100.0 Mbps
Throughput Lost Across the Mesh
= 87.5
Loss Applied per Hop
= 50
Throughput per Serving Node
= 16.67 Mbps
Assessment
= Too many shared-radio hops — add a dedicated backhaul radio or a wired uplink
How it works
A mesh node with one radio must both receive a frame and retransmit it on the same channel, so each hop halves the available throughput. A dedicated backhaul radio avoids that store-and-forward penalty and only pays normal RF and protocol overhead. Mesh is sold as a way to skip cabling, but three shared-radio hops turn an 800 Mbps root link into 100 Mbps at the edge, which is usually worse than the cable run you avoided.
Formula
Mesh Wi-Fi
edge throughput = root throughput × (1 − per-hop loss)^hops, where a client-sharing radio loses 50% per hop because it must receive and retransmit each frame.
- retain
- Fraction of root throughput surviving to the edge
- perHopLoss
- 50% for a shared radio, configurable for a dedicated backhaul
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Mesh Wi-Fi calculated?
edge throughput = root throughput × (1 − per-hop loss)^hops, where a client-sharing radio loses 50% per hop because it must receive and retransmit each frame. A mesh node with one radio must both receive a frame and retransmit it on the same channel, so each hop halves the available throughput. A dedicated backhaul radio avoids that store-and-forward penalty and only pays normal RF and protocol overhead.
Why does Mesh Wi-Fi matter?
Mesh is sold as a way to skip cabling, but three shared-radio hops turn an 800 Mbps root link into 100 Mbps at the edge, which is usually worse than the cable run you avoided.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Throughput at the root node, Hops from root to edge node, Dedicated backhaul radio (not shared with clients), Per-hop loss with a dedicated backhaul, Client-serving nodes sharing the edge link. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.