Maximum bandwidth all depends on the technology used. If we're talking 802.11n using MIMO (Multiple Tx and Rx antennas/spatial streams) then we could theoretically expect 600mbps. However, even if we're using top quality kit, today's speeds are more like 150mbps to 300mbps.
However, the problem with a mesh, particularly WiFi, comes from the size of the broadcast domain, or the service area footprint and, more specifically, the frequency channels.
If you operate a mesh where single access points mesh with their direct neighbours, then that 300mbps is shared over all the AP's and the bandwidth reduces dramatically, especially if it's a dense deployment where noise from one transmitter can be easily picked up by multiple receivers.
One way around this is to copy what cell carriers do and... create some cells. A cell is a part of a larger network but it operates on a different channel to it's neighbours, so that 300mb is just for that AP, it's subscribers, and a select, but small, number of neighbour AP's.
The problem with this is you then need two radios (two AP's), connected via Ethernet cable, to operate on two channels. I.e. One radio looks left on channel 1, the other radio looks right on channel 11. This way you get frequency re-use and can get much closer to that full channel capacity, but at the cost of doubling the infrastructure cost.
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Maximum bandwidth all depends on the technology used. If we're talking 802.11n using MIMO (Multiple Tx and Rx antennas/spatial streams) then we could theoretically expect 600mbps. However, even if we're using top quality kit, today's speeds are more like 150mbps to 300mbps.
See... http://www.ruckuswireless.com/products/zoneflex-outdoor and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n-2009
However, the problem with a mesh, particularly WiFi, comes from the size of the broadcast domain, or the service area footprint and, more specifically, the frequency channels.
If you operate a mesh where single access points mesh with their direct neighbours, then that 300mbps is shared over all the AP's and the bandwidth reduces dramatically, especially if it's a dense deployment where noise from one transmitter can be easily picked up by multiple receivers.
One way around this is to copy what cell carriers do and... create some cells. A cell is a part of a larger network but it operates on a different channel to it's neighbours, so that 300mb is just for that AP, it's subscribers, and a select, but small, number of neighbour AP's.
The problem with this is you then need two radios (two AP's), connected via Ethernet cable, to operate on two channels. I.e. One radio looks left on channel 1, the other radio looks right on channel 11. This way you get frequency re-use and can get much closer to that full channel capacity, but at the cost of doubling the infrastructure cost.