[WLAN]Q&A: What Is Load Balancing?

Load balancing distributes users to APs in a group based on the number of users and traffic volume. To implement load balancing based on the number of users, set a load balancing threshold for APs on the AC. The load balancing threshold specifies the maximum number of users allowed on each AP. When the number of users on an AP reaches the threshold, the AP rejects association requests from users. The AP accepts association requests only when the number of online users falls below the threshold.

In Figure 1, AP_1 and AP_2 associate with an AC. Four users (STA_1 to STA_4) associate with AP_1, and one user (STA_5) associates with AP_2. If too many users connect to the Internet through AP_1, AP_1 will be overloaded, whereas resources on AP_2 are not used.

After load balancing is enabled on the AC, if some APs are heavily loaded, the AC steer some STAs on these APs to lightly loaded APs based on the dual-band capability of STAs, AP load, and AP signal quality, effectively utilizing AP resources.

Load balancing can be implemented among APs only when the APs are connected to the same AC and all these APs can be discovered by a STA.

Figure 1 WLAN load balancing