At an onsite event, attendees follow KUDO translation on their own phones over the venue's Wi-Fi. Use this guide to check that the attendee network can carry translated audio to every listener, and to agree on the requirements with the venue IT team before the event.
This guide is for event organizers, production and venue IT teams.
Before you begin
- Know how many attendees you expect to listen at the same time, and where they'll sit.
- Identify the venue IT contact who manages the attendee Wi-Fi.
- Set up KUDO for the event. See Set up KUDO translation for an onsite event.
Why airtime matters more than internet speed
Attendees receive translated audio as a steady stream of small, real-time audio packets, about 50 a second for each listener. Every packet uses a fixed share of an access point's (AP's) airtime, whatever its size. That's why the limit at a large event is the number of listeners each AP can serve, not the internet speed.
On Wi-Fi 5, each listener uses roughly 1% of an AP's airtime, so 35 listeners on one AP use over 40% of it for KUDO alone. Wi-Fi 6 and later with OFDMA can serve several listeners in a single transmission, which is why large audiences require it.
Requirements for all events
- A dedicated or isolated 5 GHz network, using Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or later
- Coverage in every area where attendees will listen, including overflow areas
- UDP traffic allowed through the firewall, and unicast supported
- At least 128 kbps of bandwidth per listener
- An attendee network that meets the rules in Firewall and network requirements, including no captive portal, no per-device bandwidth limits and no UDP filtering
Requirements for large audiences
If any AP will serve more than about 11 listeners, the attendee network also needs the following.
| Area | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi generation | Wi-Fi 6, 6E or 7 access points with OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access) enabled for downlink. MU-MIMO alone doesn't provide the capacity KUDO needs. |
| Listeners per AP | 35 or fewer with Wi-Fi 6 or 7 and OFDMA, or about 11 or fewer without OFDMA. Never plan more than 80 seats per AP in any zone. |
| Signal quality | At the farthest seat in each zone: RSSI (received signal strength) of −70 dBm or better, and MCS (modulation and coding scheme) 5 or higher. |
| Channel plan | A written plan that covers channel widths, channel reuse and the number of APs per zone. Use 5 GHz as the main band, and 6 GHz where permitted. |
| Central control | One controller with fixed channel and power profiles for each zone, rather than adjusting APs one at a time. |
| Full-room tuning | Check power and channels with the hall at least 80% full before the first session. A test in an empty room gives optimistic results, because people absorb the 5 GHz signal. |
| Even load | Devices spread evenly across the APs in each zone, with about 10% spare APs on site. |
| Internet capacity | At least 128 kbps per listener plus 50% headroom, on top of other attendee traffic. Use two independent internet connections with automatic failover. |
| DHCP and NAT | Sized for the peak number of devices. |
Size the network
These examples assume 35 listeners per AP with OFDMA, about 11 without OFDMA, about 10% spare APs, and 128 kbps per listener plus 50% headroom.
| Concurrent listeners | Minimum APs with Wi-Fi 6 or 7 and OFDMA | Minimum APs without OFDMA | Internet for KUDO (Mbps, including 50% headroom) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 17 | 51 | 96 |
| 1,000 | 32 | 101 | 192 |
| 2,000 | 64 | 201 | 384 |
| 3,000 | 95 | 301 | 576 |
| 5,000 | 158 | 501 | 960 |
To estimate for a different audience size:
- Divide the number of concurrent listeners by 35 (with OFDMA) or 11 (without OFDMA), then round up.
- Add 10% for spare APs, then round up.
- For internet capacity, multiply the number of listeners by 128 kbps, then add 50%.
These figures cover KUDO traffic only. They don’t include anything else attendees do on the network, such as streaming video, checking email or joining video calls. Plan extra capacity for that traffic.
Confirm the network with the venue
- Send these requirements to the venue IT team in writing. Ask them to confirm the AP model, Wi-Fi generation, OFDMA status, number of APs per zone and number of internet connections.
- Agree in writing who is responsible for the attendee network.
- Run a loaded test with the hall as full as possible.
- If the venue can't meet these requirements, plan a fallback, such as FM receivers where permitted or backup sessions.
Firewall and network rules
The attendee network must also meet KUDO's firewall and network requirements, including allowing TCP 443 and UDP. See Firewall and network requirements
Get help planning your network
Contact KUDO Support before your event if you'd like help validating your workflow, reviewing audio routing or confirming that your network is ready.