Weighted load balancing for multi-link operation

A system comprising:

• one or more computer processors;
• and
• one or more memories collectively containing one or more programs, which, when executed by the one or more computer processors, perform operations, the operations comprising:
• receiving, by a first access point (AP) or a wireless controller, an announcement message from a second AP, wherein the announcement message indicates a presence of the second AP within a network environment;
• collecting, by the first AP or the wireless controller, operational data of the second AP by monitoring network signals transmitted by the second AP:
• calculating, by the first AP or the wireless controller, an aggregated weight for the second AP based on the collected operational data;
• determining, by the first AP or the wireless controller, a preference value for the second AP using the aggregated weight, the preference value representing a load balancing suitability of the second AP to other neighboring APs;
• and
• upon receiving a request from a client device connected to the first AP, transmitting, by the first AP or the wireless controller, a neighbor report to the client device, wherein the neighbor report comprises the preference value determined for the second AP.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media containing, in any combination, computer program code that, when executed by operation of a computer system, performs operations comprising:

• receiving, by a first access point (AP) or a wireless controller, an announcement message from a second AP, wherein the announcement message indicates a presence of the second AP within a network environment;
• collecting, by the first AP or the wireless controller, operational data of the second AP by monitoring network signals transmitted by the second AP;
• calculating, by the first AP or the wireless controller, an aggregated weight for the second AP based on the collected operational data;
• determining, by the first AP or the wireless controller, a preference value for the second AP using the aggregated weight, the preference value representing a load balancing suitability of the second AP to other neighboring APs;
• and
• upon receiving a request from a client device connected to the first AP, transmitting, by the first AP or the wireless controller, a neighbor report to the client device, wherein the neighbor report comprises the preference value determined for the second AP.