WLAN 802.11ac Data Rates Explained

This page provides a breakdown of the WLAN 802.11ac data rates. The following table outlines the 802.11ac data rates for 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, and 160 MHz bandwidths across various modulation and coding schemes (MCS).

All data rates listed assume a short Guard Interval. Note that MCS 9 is not permitted for 20MHz bandwidths. Also, MCS9 is not supported for 6 spatial streams in 80 MHz bandwidth and for 3 spatial streams in 160 MHz bandwidth.

The data rates given for 20 MHz represent a single stream. For 40, 80, and 160 MHz, the rates are for 8 streams.

Channel width multiplication factors are as follows: 1 for 20MHz BW, 2.1 for 40MHz, 4.5 for 80 MHz, and 9 for 160 MHz.

The values presented for 40MHz, 80MHz, and 160MHz are for 8 Spatial Streams (SS). To determine the rate for a single stream, simply divide the given value by 8.