Load Balancing in IEEE 802.11 Networks

Because wireless stations independently select which access points to camp on, the total wireless station traffic on all available IEEE 802.11 network APs might be unevenly distributed. This load-balancing problem can lead to overloading and network congestion. This survey examines the problem, along with state-of-the-art network- and wireless-station-based solutions. It also presents experimental results using off-the-shelf IEEE 802.11 devices. As the results show, effectively balancing AP traffic loads can increase overall system throughputs.