A method and apparatus for managing and balancing wireless access based on centralized information is provided. A request to provide service to a wireless client is received from a first access node in a plurality of access node. An access policy, applicable to the first access node, is selected from a plurality of stored policies. The stored policies may include a variety of rules, such as how many or which wireless clients may be serviced by an access node. A centralized manager, such as an AAA server, may perform the selection of the access policy. A determination is made as to whether to allow the first access node to provide service to the wireless client based on the selected access policy. A message that instructs the first access node whether to provide or deny service to the wireless client is transmitted to the first access node.