A method for thermally protecting an access point (AP) device may include receiving an actual AP power consumption value, the actual AP power consumption value being one of a plurality of potential AP power consumption values, receiving a sensed internal AP temperature value, the sensed internal AP temperature value being one of a plurality of potential internal AP temperature values, accessing an ambient temperature look up table defining relationships between the plurality of potential AP power consumption values, the plurality of potential internal AP temperature values and a plurality of ambient temperature values, and retrieving one of the plurality of ambient temperature values associated with the actual AP power consumption value and the sensed internal AP temperature value from the ambient temperature look up table, the retrieved ambient temperature value being an estimated ambient temperature value of the AP device.