Coworking Office Internet Planner

Why offices run out of internet before they run out of desks

Every office hits the same wall: the plan that felt generous for ten people starts choking at twenty. The reason is simple — internet demand in an office grows faster than headcount. One video editor can pull 25 Mbps on a bad day while a whole row of email-only staff barely touches 5 Mbps combined. Offices don't slow down because there are "too many people"; they slow down because the mix of heavy users, always-on video calls, and guest devices was never planned for.

How the planner figures your numbers

This planner adds up three kinds of demand. Staff demand uses honest per-user rates: heavy users (developers, designers, video editors) at 25 Mbps, medium users (video calls most of the day) at 8 Mbps, and light users (email, chat, browsing) at 2 Mbps. Then it adds 4 Mbps for every meeting room with video calls, and 1.5 Mbps per guest device. The total is your peak demand. The recommended plan adds 50% headroom, because a line that runs at 100% all day feels slow to everyone. It also works out how many Wi-Fi access points you need (one per ~150 m2 or 40 desks, whichever is more) and a monthly data estimate assuming 8-hour days, 22 working days, and about 40% average use of the peak.

Worked example — a 30-desk coworking space

Take a 30-desk space: 8 heavy users, 14 medium users, 8 light users, 2 meeting rooms, 20 guest devices, 400 m2 of floor, on a 500 Mbps plan. Staff demand is 8 x 25 + 14 x 8 + 8 x 2 = 328 Mbps; rooms add 8 Mbps and guests add 30 Mbps — peak demand 366 Mbps. With 50% headroom the recommended plan is 1 Gbps. Three access points cover the floor. Monthly data comes out to about 11.6 TB. The verdict: "Tight but workable" — the 500 Mbps line handles the 366 Mbps peak today, but there is no room to grow, so the planner recommends the 1 Gbps plan.

Practical tips to keep office internet fast

Put the access points on ceilings in open areas, not in a back-room corner — walls kill 5 GHz range. Give guests their own network with a speed cap so a lobby full of phones never touches your meeting calls. Run big uploads, backups and updates overnight. And re-run this planner every year: headcount is rarely what it was twelve months ago.