Patent ID: 8417257

Claim:
A method for load balancing traffic in a wireless network, comprising: identifying, by a managing device, a respective operational parameter from each of a plurality of wireless network devices in the wireless network, the respective operational parameter indicative of a number of endpoint associations for each of the plurality of wireless network devices; identifying a maximum number of endpoint associations supported for each of the plurality of wireless network devices; examining, by the managing device, each of the respective operational parameters to generate an overloaded wireless network device list and a partially loaded wireless network device list, the overloaded wireless network device list comprising one or more wireless network devices with the maximum number of endpoint associations, the partially loaded wireless network device list comprising one or more wireless network devices with less than the maximum number of endpoint associations; identifying, by the managing device, a wireless network device from the overloaded wireless network device list; distributing, by the managing device, a first command to an endpoint device to disassociate from the identified wireless network device and a second command to the endpoint device to associate with a wireless network device of the one or more wireless network devices from the partially loaded wireless network device list; and configuring, by the managing device, the identified wireless network device to limit the number of endpoint associations that are allowed to be wirelessly associated with the identified wireless network device by preventing additional endpoint devices from wirelessly associating with the identified wireless network device while the number of endpoint associations of the identified wireless network device is at least a particular number, wherein the particular number is less than the maximum number.