ZyXEL NWA-3160 User Manual download pdf (Page 269)

NWA-3160 Series User’s Guide

269

CHAPTER 21

Load Balancing

21.1 Overview

Wireless load balancing is the process whereby you limit the number of

connections allowed on an wireless access point (AP) or you limit the amount of

wireless traffic transmitted and received on it. Because there is a hard upper limit

on the AP’s wireless bandwidth, this can be a crucial function in areas crowded

with wireless users. Rather than let every user connect and subsequently dilute

the available bandwidth to the point where each connecting device receives a

meager trickle, the load balanced AP instead limits the incoming connections as a

means to maintain bandwidth integrity.

21.1.1 What You Need to Know About Load Balancing

There are two kinds of load balancing available on the NWA:

• Load balancing by station number limits the number of devices allowed to

connect to your AP. If you know exactly how many stations you want to let

connect, choose this option.

For example, if your company’s graphic design team has their own NWA and they

have 10 computers, you can load balance for 10. Later, if someone from the sales

department visits the graphic design team’s offices for a meeting and he tries to

access the network, he won’t be able to because his laptop is device number 11,

which is one more than 10 and thus exceeds the load balance. If one of the

graphic design team’s computers disconnects from the network, then the sales

computer can join.

• Load balancing by traffic level limits the number of connections to the NWA

based on maximum bandwidth available.

If you are uncertain as to the exact number of wireless connections you will have

then choose this option. By setting a maximum bandwith cap, you allow any

number of devices to connect as long as their total bandwidth usage does not

exceed the configured bandwidth cap associated with this setting. Once the cap is

hit, any new connections are rejected or delayed provided that there are other APs

in range that have the same settings as the NWA (such as SSID, security mode,

radio mode, and so on).

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ZyXEL NWA-3160 User Manual Page 269