Controlling clients in distributed Wi-Fi networks

Systems and methods implemented by a cloud controller for steering Wi-Fi client devices in a Wi-Fi network include determining a client needs to be steered from a first access point to a second access point; selecting a client steering approach from a plurality of client steering approaches based on the client; and causing the client to be steered from the first access point to the second access point based on the selected client steering approach. The determining can be based on optimization performed by the cloud controller based on operational parameters associated with the Wi-Fi network.