In one embodiment, a method comprises causing, by a network controller device, a first access point (AP) device to initiate a reverse sounding operation comprising wirelessly requesting a mobile constrained network device to transmit a null data packet (NDP) at a first transmission interval, wirelessly receiving the NDP at the first transmission interval, and generating a reception report describing reception of the NDP and including beamforming information; causing, by the network controller device, a second AP device to generate a corresponding reception report describing a corresponding wireless detection of the NDP at the first transmission interval; and causing, by the network controller device, the mobile constrained network device to connect to a selected one of the first AP device or the second AP device for an identified data flow based on the respective reception reports from the first and second AP devices.