Wireless Access

We are operating an enterprise SSID with both 6GHz and 5GHz bands enabled.
However, we are observing that too many clients are connecting to the 6GHz band, leading to an imbalanced distribution. Ideally, we want clients to be load-balanced between 6GHz and 5GHz, especially when the 6GHz band becomes crowded.

To address this, we have made the following configuration changes, but the client distribution still remains heavily skewed toward 6GHz:

• Enabled ARM band steering and set it to "Balance Frequency Bands"

• Tried both "Radio Only" and "Radio + Channel" options for Spectrum Load Balancing

• Enabled Client Match

We would appreciate any best practices or recommendations on how to effectively balance client connections between 6GHz and 5GHz in a dual-band deployment. Thank you!

We are operating an enterprise SSID with both 6GHz and 5GHz bands enabled.
However, we are observing that too many clients are connecting to the 6GHz band, leading to an imbalanced distribution. Ideally, we want clients to be load-balanced between 6GHz and 5GHz, especially when the 6GHz band becomes crowded.

To address this, we have made the following configuration changes, but the client distribution still remains heavily skewed toward 6GHz:

• Enabled ARM band steering and set it to "Balance Frequency Bands"

• Tried both "Radio Only" and "Radio + Channel" options for Spectrum Load Balancing

• Enabled Client Match

We would appreciate any best practices or recommendations on how to effectively balance client connections between 6GHz and 5GHz in a dual-band deployment. Thank you!

Can you characterize the situation further? What does imbalanced distribution mean? What is the AP density? Why do you want more clients on 5 GHz? What problems are you seeing on 6 GHz?

Some things you can try to even out the bands for the BSSID selection (which is driven) by the client.

• Check power levels (is 6 GHz using higher power than 5 GHz?)
• Check channel widths (like Carson mentioned, a wider channel width can bump up the 6 GHz BSSID in the selection criteria. Try making the channel widths the same).
• Some clients allow you to configure band preference through group policy or profiles.

Original Message:
Sent: May 16, 2025 02:48 AM
From: 拓也 松本
Subject: Aruba Central AOS 10.4.1.7 + AP655

We are operating an enterprise SSID with both 6GHz and 5GHz bands enabled.
However, we are observing that too many clients are connecting to the 6GHz band, leading to an imbalanced distribution. Ideally, we want clients to be load-balanced between 6GHz and 5GHz, especially when the 6GHz band becomes crowded.

To address this, we have made the following configuration changes, but the client distribution still remains heavily skewed toward 6GHz:

• Enabled ARM band steering and set it to "Balance Frequency Bands"

• Tried both "Radio Only" and "Radio + Channel" options for Spectrum Load Balancing

• Enabled Client Match

We would appreciate any best practices or recommendations on how to effectively balance client connections between 6GHz and 5GHz in a dual-band deployment. Thank you!

Thank you for your thoughtful reply and suggestions!

To clarify a bit more on our environment:

• We are operating in a high-density office space, with several AP-655s deployed.

• The SSID is configured identically across both 5GHz and 6GHz bands (PSK-based).

• Our intention is to achieve a more even client distribution between 5GHz and 6GHz, especially because the 6GHz band tends to get crowded during peak hours.

• Currently, we're seeing that a disproportionate number of clients (including Windows/macOS laptops and some mobile devices) prefer the 6GHz band, leading to congestion on that band.

As for your questions:

What does imbalanced distribution mean?

By that, I mean we're seeing around 80–90% of clients choosing 6GHz, even when 5GHz is underutilized.

Is 6GHz using higher power than 5GHz?

We'll double-check the EIRP settings, but from what we can tell, the power levels are configured similarly across both bands.

Channel widths?

Good point. 6GHz is currently using 80MHz channels, while 5GHz is using a mix of 40MHz and 80MHz depending on DFS constraints. We'll try aligning the channel widths and observe if that impacts client behavior.

Can you characterize the situation further? What does imbalanced distribution mean? What is the AP density? Why do you want more clients on 5 GHz? What problems are you seeing on 6 GHz?

Some things you can try to even out the bands for the BSSID selection (which is driven) by the client.

• Check power levels (is 6 GHz using higher power than 5 GHz?)
• Check channel widths (like Carson mentioned, a wider channel width can bump up the 6 GHz BSSID in the selection criteria. Try making the channel widths the same).
• Some clients allow you to configure band preference through group policy or profiles.

Original Message:
Sent: May 16, 2025 02:48 AM
From: 拓也 松本
Subject: Aruba Central AOS 10.4.1.7 + AP655

We are operating an enterprise SSID with both 6GHz and 5GHz bands enabled.
However, we are observing that too many clients are connecting to the 6GHz band, leading to an imbalanced distribution. Ideally, we want clients to be load-balanced between 6GHz and 5GHz, especially when the 6GHz band becomes crowded.

To address this, we have made the following configuration changes, but the client distribution still remains heavily skewed toward 6GHz:

• Enabled ARM band steering and set it to "Balance Frequency Bands"

• Tried both "Radio Only" and "Radio + Channel" options for Spectrum Load Balancing

• Enabled Client Match

We would appreciate any best practices or recommendations on how to effectively balance client connections between 6GHz and 5GHz in a dual-band deployment. Thank you!