Client not connecting to closest AP

[laxcis]

I have a client running a Linksys USB wireless adapter and for some reason it insists on connecting to the AP farthest away from it. The signal is so low that it drops packets every other second. There is an AP right outside the door (10 feet) and if I remove it's association to the low signal AP (4402 Wireless LAN Controller) it re-associates with the stronger AP. Any thoughts on why it wouldn't automatically select the AP with the strongest signal?

[jeff.kish]

I hate to say it, but the client device itself is responsible for determining which AP to connect to. It runs its own internal algorithms based on the radio environment, so there's little that can be done to convince it to leave a particular AP alone.

One thing that might help is to disable the 1 and 2Mbps data rates. This drastically reduces the poor-quality range of the APs. If it's connecting at that poor of a signal, this might take care of the problem.

If you're desperate, you can always block this client from using the far-away AP. The downside is that the client might legitimately want to roam to this AP one day, and it won't be able to. If you want to use it as a temporary fix, use this config on the AP:

conf t

access-list 700 deny xxxx.xxxx.xxxx 0000.0000.0000

access-list 700 permit 0000.0000.0000 ffff.ffff.ffff

dot11 association mac-list 700

where xxxx.xxxx.xxxx is your LinkSys adapter MAC address.

I hope that helps!

Jeff