| TX Power (AP, conducted) | P_tx | 20 dBm | 20 dBm | 20 dBm | 20 dBm | 17 dBm | FCC Part 15.247 / §15.407. Typical AP conducted power (not EIRP). 6 GHz LPI limit = 30 dBm EIRP. |
| TX Antenna Gain (AP) | G_tx | 3 dBi | 5 dBi | 5 dBi | 6 dBi | 6 dBi | Omnidirectional dipole array. Enterprise APs: 3-8 dBi internal antennas. |
| TX Cable / Connector Loss (AP) | L_tx_cable | -0.5 dB | -1 dB | -0.5 dB | -1 dB | -1.5 dB | Internal antennas: ~0.5 dB. External with pigtail: 1-3 dB. Increases with freq. |
| EIRP = P_tx + G_tx - L_tx_cable | EIRP | 22.5 dBm | 24 dBm | 24.5 dBm | 25 dBm | 21.5 dBm | Effective Isotropic Radiated Power. Regulatory limit is on EIRP, not conducted power. |
| Free Space Path Loss @ 1 m | FSPL_1m | -40.1 dB | -46.4 dB | -40.1 dB | -46.4 dB | -47.8 dB | FSPL = 20log(4πd/λ). Reference at d=1 m. |
| Distance (example) | d | 10 m | 10 m | 10 m | 10 m | 10 m | Change d to calculate any distance. |
| Path Loss Exponent | n | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.7 | NLOS office typical values. |
| Total Path Loss = FSPL_1m + 10n·log(d) | PL | -72.1 dB | -81.4 dB | -72.1 dB | -81.4 dB | -84.7 dB | Total free-space + distance loss. Does not include obstacles. |
| Wall / Obstacle Attenuation | L_wall | -6 dB | -8 dB | -6 dB | -8 dB | -10 dB | 2× drywall (3 dB each). Adjust per actual floor plan. |
| Body / Implementation Loss | L_body | -3 dB | -3 dB | -3 dB | -3 dB | -3 dB | Human body, polarization mismatch, PCB trace losses. |
| RX Antenna Gain (Client) | G_rx | 0 dBi | 0 dBi | 0 dBi | 0 dBi | 0 dBi | Phone/laptop internal antenna. Typically -2 to +2 dBi with orientation variation. |
| RX Cable Loss (Client) | L_rx_cable | 0 dB | 0 dB | 0 dB | 0 dB | 0 dB | Direct to antenna. No cable in most client devices. |
| RSSI at Receiver | RSSI | -59 dBm | -69 dBm | -59 dBm | -69 dBm | -74 dBm | RSSI = EIRP - PL - L_wall - L_body + G_rx - L_rx_cable |
| RX Noise Figure (Client) | NF | 8 dB | 9 dB | 7 dB | 8 dB | 9 dB | Typical smartphone/laptop receive chain noise figure. |
| Thermal Noise Floor | kTB | -101 dBm
(20 MHz BW) | -101 dBm | -101 dBm | -101 dBm | -101 dBm | N = -174 dBm/Hz + 10log(BW). BW=20 MHz → N = -174+73 = -101 dBm. |
| Minimum Detectable Signal (MDS) | MDS | -93 dBm | -92 dBm | -94 dBm | -93 dBm | -92 dBm | MDS = kTB + NF. Receiver sensitivity floor before SNR requirement. |
| Required SNR @ MCS 0 (BPSK 1/2) | SNR_min | 5 dB | 5 dB | 5 dB | 5 dB | 5 dB | Minimum required for reliable decoding of most robust MCS. |
| Sensitivity @ MCS 0 | Sens_0 | -88 dBm | -87 dBm | -89 dBm | -88 dBm | -87 dBm | Sens = MDS + SNR_min. Matches IEEE 802.11 spec Table 17-8 / 19-12 / 27-82. |
| Required SNR @ highest MCS | SNR_max | 30 dB (MCS7
64QAM 5/6) | 35 dB (MCS9
256QAM 5/6) | 33 dB (MCS11
1024-QAM 5/6) | 38 dB | 33 dB (MCS11, 1024-QAM 5/6) | Higher QAM requires much better SNR. Critical for beamforming gain analysis. |
| Sensitivity @ highest MCS | Sens_max | -63 dBm | -57 dBm | -56 dBm | -55 dBm | -49 dBm | Peak MCS only achievable close to AP. |
| Received SNR | RX_SNR | 29 dB | 23 dB | 35 dB | 24 dB | 18 dB | RX_SNR = RSSI - Sens_0. Determines achievable MCS. |
| Link Margin @ MCS 0 | LM_0 | 29 dB | 23 dB | 35 dB | 24 dB | 18 dB | Extra margin above minimum needed. Used for reliability assessment. |
| Max Range @ MCS 0 (approx) | R_max | ~80 m | ~40 m | ~90 m | ~45 m | ~30 m | Solve d where RSSI = Sens_0. Adjust for actual wall losses. |
| Max Range @ highest MCS | R_mcs_max | ~12 m | ~8 m | ~18 m | ~10 m | ~5 m | High-MCS only usable close to AP. Used for dense AP planning. |