How many SSIDs do you support?

From a technical standpoint, Plasma Cloud Access Points can accommodate an infinite number of SSIDs. However, activation of each SSID has a negative impact on the overall performance of all SSIDs, even when in an idle state. Consequently, we have imposed a practical limitation of 4 SSIDs per device to optimize performance.

Striking a balance between optimal performance and advanced SSID features, the Plasma Cloud console allows users to create an unlimited number of SSIDs per network. These SSIDs can then be assigned to individual Access Points, with a maximum of 4 SSIDs per device. This approach permits the broadcasting of different SSIDs on various devices, accommodating a wide range of custom setups.

To learn how to assign SSIDs to an Access Point, please see this article.

Multi-SSID Performance Impact

For each enabled SSID, an Access Point needs to send additional beacon broadcast frames and respond to probe requests. These frames are part of the WiFi network discovery process, and thus required before any WiFi connection can be established. Consequently, each additional SSID causes more management & discovery frames to be broadcasted, leaving less space to transmit actual data. The team at Wireless LAN Professionals has published an excellent SSID overhead calculator visualizing the performance impact of multi-SSID deployments.