client association to ap

[bluesea2010]

Hi,

I have 10 access points deployed on one floor, but most clients keep connecting to a single AP in one area. This causes connectivity problems and slow browsing, especially for new clients trying to join. How can I resolve this issue and ensure proper client distribution across all APs?

Thanks

[pieterh]

that depends
are these A's individual AP's or controller based ?

if individual, then you have very little options to manage connections,
you can disconnect/turn off the wifi adapter on the client , wait some time, then (re)connect and hope for the best

if controller based (or mesh) you have some options of steering the clients
- max clients per AP
- load balancing over AP's during association (number of clients)
- distribute clients based on actual load

by the way it is the client that selects the AP to associate with, so it also depends on client-OS and wifi driver

-> tell us more about your environment

[Mark Elsen]

    - @bluesea2010            Client roaming decisions (or not) are always autonomous; preferred AP(s) may depend on load
                                          and capacity advertised , make sure the wi-fi driver(s) of the clients are up to date

  M.

[bluesea2010]

We observed another similar issue: even when the client is stationary, it roams from the nearest AP to a farther one. When you mention load or capacity, do you mean EHT/HE/VHT capability? Also, regarding 'capacity advertised', how can I identify this in Wireshark to confirm whether the roaming occurred due to AP load or capacity advertisement?

[pieterh]

if your AP's are controller based, then look at this document
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/technical-reference/c9800-best-practices.html#s80211v
and enable assisted roaming in your controller

The 802.11k standard allows clients to request neighbor reports containing information about known neighbor APs that are candidates for roaming. The use of the 802.11k neighbor list can limit the need for active and passive scanning. A common problem that 802.11k helps solve is “sticky” clients, which usually associate with a specific AP and then hold on to that AP strongly, even when significantly better options are available from nearer APs.

The 802.11k feature can be configured directly on the WLAN under the Advanced settings:

[Rasika Nayanajith]

This is a common issue when there are too many APs in an open office environment. When a Wi-Fi device enters a building or floor, it initially associates with the AP that has the strongest RSSI. Afterward, it does not continuously seek the strongest AP; instead, it waits until the signal drops below its roaming threshold. For example:

-Apple iOS devices: typically wait until signal drops to around -70 dBm
-MacBooks: around -75 dBm
-Samsung devices: typically around -75 dBm, etc.

In your case, I would check how strong the AP coverage is in the given area.
One option is to reduce the transmit power of your radios, 8–14 dBm for 5 GHz is generally a good range. Make sure 2.4GHz radio power much lower than 5GHz (at least 8dB lower), so client will not prefer 2.4GHz over 5GHz.

HTH
Rasika
*** Pls rate all useful responses ***

[Leo Laohoo]

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@bluesea2010 wrote:
but most clients keep connecting to a single AP in one area. This causes connectivity problems and slow browsing

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That conclusion is totally wrong.  

10 wireless clients connecting to a single AP will not cause "connectivity problems or slow browsing" if the wireless client are (very) close to the AP.  

However, X wireless clients connecting to a single AP will not cause "connectivity problems or slow browsing" if the wireless client are not roaming correctly and have "sticky" stuck to a far away AP.  And this behaviour is very common if-and-when the wireless NIC drivers have never been updated before.