What are WAP Capacity and WAP Readiness?

One bottleneck that has occurred for many schools in states that were early adopters of computer-based testing was caused by overcrowding of wireless access points or WAPs. In NJTRAx, we look at wireless access point readiness at each location where testing will take place, even if that location is a laptop or cart. The capacity of a WAP is the number of users that it can support without a degradation of performance. These can vary from 10 or 15 for an old Apple Airport, for example, to 500 on one of the new high capacity WAPs on the market. Most WAPs currently in use in schools can support about 30 users, and that is the default in NJTRAx. If you’re not sure of the capacity of your WAPs, ask your network administrator. If the district does not have a network administrator, check the technical specifications for the brand and model of WAP that you have in the building. WAP Readiness is determined by looking at the number of testing devices in any location and then comparing that to the number and capacity of the WAPs available to that location. If WAPs are shared, the capacity claimed should be shared as well. If you need further help, please send an email to [email protected] or [email protected].