Recent developments in sensor networks have led to a number of routing schemes that use the limited resources available at sensor nodes more efficiently. Control traffic analysis plays a major role in ad hoc sensor networks in optimizing the energy used in the network. In this research, we present an effective method to estimate the number of nodes to be deployed in a given area. We analyze the optimal node degree under different levels of mobility. We consider two parameters, packet delivery ratio and control traffic for the estimation of optimal node degree. The quantitative and simulation results provide a detailed analysis of the working of protocols and they can be used to design efficient routing protocols for ad hoc networks.