topic Disable client load balancing in Wireless

WLC 2504 throughput

Ruslan Moldaliev — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 11:18:42 GMT

hi folks,

I have an very simple question but still can't find the answer:

we have a couple of them at the office and I want to see whether it's time to upgrade or time to troubleshoot network speed issues. how can I see/check current throughput on the WLC 2504?

I know I can see switch port load, I'm rather interested in native throughput counter.

thanks in advance!

That is tough... Typically

Scott Fella — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 16:55:00 GMT

That is tough... Typically you can look at the switchport utilization of the issue is with the controller and being over utilized. First off, I would not start at this. Define what the issue is being reported, is it everyone or a selected few, was there a change in code or anything on the network side? I really doubt that it can be the controller. Usually is client side, configuration issue or network issue. So you need to determine what it is by process of elimination.

-Scott

do you mean ports utilization

Ruslan Moldaliev — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 17:22:39 GMT

do you mean ports utilization of the switch where WLC is connected under "..switchport utilization of the issue..."?

currently it's issues with WiFi quality mainly with MacBook Pro and I'm trying to exclude different factors that can influence. I know it's very popular "feature" of Apple products:).

Also user and AP population is constantly growing and I would like to predict when we will hit the throughput ceiling.

With Apple devices, its best

Scott Fella — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 20:13:49 GMT

With Apple devices, its best to make sure you only use one type of encryption. You should use WPA2/AES and not have WPA/TKIP also enabled. Apple devices have issues connecting with a mix encryption.

-Scott

thanks for the suggestion, I

Ruslan Moldaliev — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 09:09:25 GMT

thanks for the suggestion, I have this setting enabled already. maybe you have a couple other related tips? I would appreciate it, those Apple devices are driving me crazy.

do I understand you correctly that there is no possibility to see current throughput level at the WLC itself?

You can try to look at the

Scott Fella — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 11:29:49 GMT

You can try to look at the monitor tab and then ports to see some statistics. The fact that your mentioning issues with Apple devices and not all devices, means your code or configuration is the issue. Post your show WLAN <WLAN ID> for the SSID that Apple devices use. Explain to me some of the things end users complain about.

-Scott

I'm sorry for the delay in

Ruslan Moldaliev — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 09:11:45 GMT

I'm sorry for the delay in answer. here in the attachment output of "show wlan X".

and usual issues are:

- long connecting time to the WLAN, not less then 1-2 minutes, sometimes turn off/on WiFi connection helps do it faster.

- random disconnections from WLAN, sometimes with long reconnection time.

Disable client load balancing

Scott Fella — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:29:24 GMT

Disable client load balancing. Also when you are having these issues, how many devices are associated to a given AP?

-Scott

client load balancing option

Ruslan Moldaliev — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 10:45:41 GMT

client load balancing option has no matter, I tried on/off and no difference. after this information does it still need to turn off?

in average from 10 to 20, sometimes more, not optimal AP location is related with a little bit chaotically growth of company, AP location points was considered manually at that time.

Load balancing should be

Scott Fella — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 13:27:07 GMT

Load balancing should be turned off. This causes issue with clients connecting when you start hitting around 10 devices on an AP. Devices will take a long time to connect and some will not connect. Others that are already connected might drop off. Also if your using 40mhz channel width, set that to 20mhz as some wireless NICs have issues with 40mhz.

-Scott

have you used this

Ruslan Moldaliev — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 13:58:55 GMT

have you used this recommendation in the production environment? is it mainly used for backward compatibility with older devices? and am I thinking right that max data rate will be 72.2 mbit/s? information from here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11n-2009#Data_rates

also I wanted to ask if using FlexConnect with Local Switching will decrease throughput load on the controller?

thanks, I'll try to test your recommendations ASAP.

Yes, that is our standard

Scott Fella — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 14:07:40 GMT

Yes, that is our standard when we deploy. FlexConnect local switching might help or not. You just need to make sure you understand the limits of FlexConnect because it doesn't do everything local mode does. Cisco did a study recently and also mentioned that they have not seen throughout max even close to a gigabit. The issue your seeing can be because of client side issues. Since wireless is half duplex, if you connect at 72mbps, the expected throughout is half of that with one device. Wireless is a shared media so the more devices the less throughput one has. It's like a wired hub.

Mad far as client load balancing, that has caused issue for a very long time device manufactures that don't support status code 17 (what Cisco uses to try to load balance), have issue with this enabled.

-Scott

I'm sorry, I lost part of

Ruslan Moldaliev — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 14:44:58 GMT

I'm sorry, I lost part of sentence in this one: "is it mainly used for backward compatibility with older devices?". I meant: "20 mhz channel width, is it mainly used for backward compatibility with older devices?"

and could you give recommendations regarding max clients per AP in case when every user have a couple of wireless devices: notebook and smartphone. from your experience. I know it's not simple question, I would like to hear approximate numbers.

PS. for 2602i and 2702i AP and WLC2504. and whether own user's smartphone is count for "full" client.

No. The issue with 40 MHz is

Scott Fella — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 15:07:21 GMT

No. The issue with 40 MHz is that some clients drivers are affected and causes client side issues. My rule of thumb that has worked for me is 30 or less devices on an AP.

-Scott

we moved to new office and I

Ruslan Moldaliev — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 18:10:17 GMT

we moved to new office and I finally had a chance to implement your recommendations - turned off client balancing and set 20 Mhz wide channel. so far seems okay, but anyway better then earlier.

thanks

For sure. End user experience

Scott Fella — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 00:50:16 GMT

For sure. End user experience is what you need to focus on. 20 vs 40 depends on stability and if 40 gives you higher throughout but end users have issues, 20 will be soooo much better.

-Scott

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