The upper limit of devices that can be connected to a wireless router depends on several factors, including the router's hardware capabilities, the wireless standard it supports (e.g., Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6), and the network's bandwidth. Most consumer-grade routers can handle between 50 to 250 devices simultaneously, but performance may degrade as the number of connected devices increases due to bandwidth sharing and signal interference.
For example, a typical home router supporting Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) might comfortably handle 50 devices, while a high-end router with Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) can support up to 250 devices or more. However, in practice, the number of devices that can be effectively connected without performance issues is often lower, especially if multiple devices are streaming video or downloading large files.
In enterprise environments, specialized routers or access points can support thousands of devices. For instance, a business might use a combination of wireless controllers and access points to manage a large number of connected devices efficiently. If you need to scale your network to support a large number of devices, consider using cloud-managed networking solutions like Tencent Cloud's Cloud Wi-Fi service, which provides scalable and centralized management for Wi-Fi networks, ensuring optimal performance even with a high density of connected devices.