SNR Required for Each MCS
The SNR table below shows the Signal to Noise Ratio WiFi required for each MCS index as well as the modulation, coding and data rate per stream based on channel width in MHz. Note in the SNR WiFi table that each channel uses up to two streams.
Examples:
- 2 x 80 MHz channels operating at MCS 8 with 4 streams would yield 1560 Mbps (390 Mbps * 4 streams).
- 1 x 40 MHz channel operating at MCS 6 with 2 streams would yield 270 Mbps (135 Mbps * 2 streams).
| Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) | PHY Data Rate (Mbps/stream) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Modulation | Coding | Required SNR (dB) | 20 MHz | 40 MHz | 80 MHz |
| 0 | BPSK | 1/2 | 5 | 7.2 | 15 | 32.5 |
| 1 | QPSK | 1/2 | 7.5 | 14.4 | 30 | 65 |
| 2 | QPSK | 3/4 | 10 | 21.7 | 45 | 97.5 |
| 3 | 16-QAM | 1/2 | 12.5 | 28.9 | 60 | 130 |
| 4 | 16-QAM | 3/4 | 15 | 43.3 | 90 | 195 |
| 5 | 64-QAM | 2/3 | 17.5 | 57.8 | 120 | 260 |
| 6 | 64-QAM | 3/4 | 20 | 65 | 135 | 292.5 |
| 7 | 64-QAM | 5/6 | 22.5 | 72.2 | 150 | 325 |
| 8 | 256-QAM | 3/4 | 25 | 86.7 | 180 | 390 |
| 9 | 256-QAM | 5/6 | 27.5 | n/a | 200 | 433 |
