Nortel Networks 2300 manual Session Load Balancing

Configuring AP access points 239

Session Load Balancing

You can assign AP access ports to a load-balancing group. A load-balancing group helps reduce congestion by distrib- uting client sessions among the AP access ports in the group. For example, if an 802.11b/g radio operating on channel 1 is supporting more sessions than a neighboring 802.11b/g radio operating on channel 6, the load-balancing feature can reject association requests to the radio on channel 1.

To balance the sessions, WSS Software rejects an association request for an access port’s radio if that radio has at least four more active sessions than the radio of the same type with the least number of active sessions within the group. If the rejected client associates with another access point in the same group, the session load among the access ports in the group becomes more balanced.

Load balancing is based only on association requests for new sessions. Adding an AP access point to a group does not affect sessions that are already active on the access port. In addition, WSS Software does not attempt to rebalance sessions when a client disassociates from an access port. If WSS Software rejects an association request for load-balancing reasons but not for authentication reasons, the rejection does not count as an authentication failure.

Nortel recommends that you configure small groups and ensure that all the radios in the group provide comparable coverage within the same service area.

(To configure a load-balancing group, see “Configuring a Load-Balancing Group” on page 260.)

Nortel WLAN Security Switch 2300 Series Configuration Guide