Nebula Control Center (NCC) WLAN Enhancements: Removal of Implicit Load Balancing Threshold

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The enhancement addresses the implicit load-balancing threshold for access points. Previously, when an access point’s radio supported more than 32 clients, NCC would display a warning message and change the access point icon color to orange, indicating "overloading." However, with advancements in wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7, modern access points can now support higher client densities without degradation in performance.

In NCC 18.20, this implicit threshold has been removed to accommodate the increased capacity of modern Wi-Fi standards.

Key Changes

1. No Warning for High Client Counts:
   • The threshold for 32 clients per radio no longer triggers a warning. Access points can now display green status icons even when client counts exceed 32, so long as the AP can handle the load effectively.
2. Simplified Monitoring:
   • Removing the implicit warning eliminates unnecessary alerts, allowing administrators to focus on actual performance issues rather than arbitrary client limits. This update ensures that the NCC display aligns with the capabilities of newer Wi-Fi standards, like Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7.
3. Improved User Experience:
   • For networks with a high client density, this change reduces clutter in the NCC interface, ensuring that administrators only see warnings when genuine performance issues arise.

How Load Balancing Works with the Update

• When Load Balancing Is Disabled:
  • NCC will no longer display a warning icon or overload status for AP radios with more than 32 clients.
  • For example, if 50 clients connect to an AP radio, the icon remains green, indicating normal operation as long as the AP’s performance is unaffected.
• When Load Balancing Is Enabled:
  • Administrators can set a custom threshold based on their specific network needs. For instance, if load balancing is configured with a threshold of 50 clients on the 2.4 GHz radio, NCC will only display a warning if this limit is exceeded, helping to distribute connections more evenly across available APs.

Summary

The latest NCC WLAN enhancements improve the usability and functionality of wireless network management.

Removal of Implicit Load Balancing Threshold

By eliminating the 32-client limit warning, NCC aligns with modern AP capacities, reducing false alerts and improving the user experience.