Thread Monitoring

The Thread Monitoring view provides an administrator with real-time insight into the health and topology of their Thread networks which is crucial for diagnosing issues, optimizing performance, and understanding network behavior:

Visualizing the topology of a Thread network provides a clear overview of the network's current state, including device connectivity, router roles, and mesh network dynamics.
Viewing in real-time when a network segmentation has occurred (new elections).
Interacting with the different roles to see what they are doing and how they are behaving.

As a Thread network uses a mesh network topology, it allows for multiple paths between devices, which enhances the network's resilience and flexibility to provide reliable and secure wireless communication for IoT end-devices.

Thread networks are designed to be self-healing. Routers automatically adjust their routing tables and can change their roles (router, leader, or router eligible end-device) based on the network's needs.
When a new router joins a Thread network the network automatically adjusts its topology to include it, potentially selecting it as a path for data transmission based on its location, signal strength, and the network's current topology.
When a new client joins a Thread network, the client attempts to connect to the router with the strongest signal strength that has available capacity. Although the addition of thread clients might not change the network topology as significantly as the addition of thread routers, it still requires the network to adapt, ensuring all devices maintain reliable connectivity.

Due to failures or disruptions in connectivity, dynamic changes in the network topology can lead to network partitions - isolated segments of the network. By visualizing the topology of the Thread network, administrators can easily identify these network partitions, leading to quicker troubleshooting and less downtime, ensuring the network remains operational and dependable.

Go to ML Insights > Thread Monitoring.

Thread Network Details

Before you can select a Thread network, you must select the site to which it belongs. Select a Site and an available Thread Network from the drop-downs to view thread details in the Toplogy view.

Thread networks are defined by configuring the IoT interface of one or more APs with an IoT profile specifying a Thread Gateway configuration. Different APs configured with the same IoT profile belonging to different sites belong to different Thread networks, but have the same Thread network settings. For more information, see Thread Application.

Topology View

View the topology of the selected Thread network in the topology viewer. The "Legend" drop down describes the meaning of the different icons used in the topology diagram.

Select the Legend dropdown to view the different icons used in the topology diagram:

Leader: Manages the overall operation of the thread network. There is only one active Leader in a thread network at any given time.
Router: Forwards data packets within the network. However, if a Thread network becomes partitioned due to a communication breakdown between sections of the network, each isolated segment can independently elect a new Leader.
End Device: Endpoints that interact with the network.

Select Collapse Menu to collapse and expand the menu to enlarge or reduce the Topology viewer for visibility.

Select + to zoom in, and - to zoom out. Use the arrows to move the Thread network within the window. Alternatively, scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Select and drag the diagram to view nodes not displayed on the screen.

Select, or hover over, a router node in the topology viewer to see the following node-specific details appear:

Host Name
Serial Number
EUI64
RLOC16
Role
Services

Select an end-device node in the topology viewer to see the End Device List for the end devices connected to the parent router:

MAC Address
IPV6
RLOC16

Inventory

To view device details for all the routers participating in the selected Thread network, go to Inventory > Routers.

To see a client view of all the end devices participating in the selected Thread network, go to Inventory > End-Devices.

Table 1. Thread Router Details
Parameter	Description
Status	Status icons indicate a router's connection status.
Host Name	The host name of the device.
Serial Number	Device serial number.
EUI64	A unique identifier assigned to a device in a Thread network.
Role	The role (Leader or Router) of the device in a thread.
Extended MAC	A unique identifier assigned to a device in a Thread network.
RLOC16	The RLOC16 reflects the hierarchical structure of the network. All devices in the Thread topology have an RLOC16 that is the combination of their router ID + child ID. Because a router is not a child, the child ID for a router is always 0. All child nodes with the same parent router have the same router ID.
IPV6 Link Local	The IPv6 address of the device.
Mode	The operational modes of the thread device: Rx On When Idle: This flag indicates whether the device keeps its radio receiver (Rx) on when it is not actively transmitting (Idle). If this is set to true, the device is constantly listening for incoming messages, which is typical for powered devices such as routers. If it's false, the device powers down its radio when idle to save energy, which is a behavior often seen in battery-operated devices. Full Thread Device: This flag specifies if the device is a Full Thread Device (FTD). An FTD is capable of performing all Thread protocol functions and can route traffic on behalf of other devices. The radio receiver is on when idle and maintains routing information for the network. If this is true, the device is an FTD; if false, it is a Minimal Thread Device (MTD), which does not route traffic and often operates at a lower power level. Full Network Data: This flag indicates if the device stores a full copy of the network data. Full network data includes all the operational datasets of the Thread network. Devices with full network data have enough information to function as leaders within the Thread network, if necessary. If this is true, the device maintains a full set of the network data; if false, it only stores what is necessary for its operation as a reduced-function device.
Channel	The thread channel number.
Border Router	The border router's connection status.
Backbone Border Router	The elected state (Primary or Secondary) of the backbone border router.

Table 2. Thread End-Devices Details
Parameter	Description
Status	Status icons indicate a router's connection status.
MAC Address	A unique identifier assigned to a device in a Thread network.
RLOC16	A unique identifier assigned to a device in a Thread network.
Extended MAC Address	A unique identifier assigned to a device in a Thread network.
IPV6 Mesh Local EID	The unique endpoint identifier assigned to a device in a Thread network.
Channel	The thread channel number.
Average RSSI	The average signal strength of the received radio signal.
Connection Time	The total time that the device has been online.

Node Details

Select a node from the Topology viewer for Network, Interface, and Services details. Select an option from the Node Details list to display details. The available details are determined by the type of node selected.