Overview
The load balancing function applies to scenarios where there is a high degree of overlapping between APs' coverage ranges. If the APs engaged in load balancing are far away from each other, an STA may connect to a distant AP, which affects the wireless user experience.
When the load difference between the APs reaches the load difference threshold, some STAs may access the network slowly because the APs will reject access requests of STAs according to the load balancing algorithm. If an STA continues to send association requests to an AP, the AP allows the STA to associate when the number of consecutive association attempts of the STA exceeds the maximum number of rejection times.
Static Load Balancing
In the static load balancing mode, APs providing the same services are manually added to a load balancing group. When an STA needs to access a WLAN, it sends an Association Request packet to an AC through an AP. The AC determines whether to permit access from the STA according to a load balancing algorithm. The implementation of static load balancing must meet the following conditions.
Dynamic Load Balancing
In the dynamic load balancing mode, an STA broadcasts Probe Request frames to scan available APs. All the APs that receive the Probe Request frames report the STA information to the AC. The AC adds these APs to a load balancing group and then uses a load balancing algorithm to determine whether to permit access from the STA.
If the RSSI threshold of member devices in a dynamic load balancing group is set, an AP compares the RSSI of a STA with the configured RSSI threshold after receiving the Probe Request packet sent by the STA. If the STA's RSSI exceeds the configured RSSI threshold, the AP reports the STA information to the AC and the AP is added to the dynamic load balancing group. Otherwise, the AP directly filters the STA information and does not report the information to the AC, thus the AP will not be added to the dynamic load balancing group.
