Advanced Configuration and Mesh Device Settings

Mesh networks are comprised of mesh points that are associated with radio channels on both root and non-root APs. When the radio channel is changed on a root AP, the non-root APs can find the root through Automatic Channel Selection (ACS). A non-root mesh AP is capable of scanning multiple channels to find the best root AP, and therefore providing the best path for network traffic.

A single mesh point can be configured on one or more AP radios.
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Mesh Point Profile Configuration, Multiple Radios
Configuration Profile with Mesh point configured on both radios
Non-root APs are configured with Mesh ACS (Automatic Channel Selection). This allows the non-root AP to follow the channel and width of the uplink AP. The non-root AP scans channels to find the best path to a root AP. Preferred Root and Preferred Neighbor settings influence the path to the root AP.
Note

Note

Upon upgrade from earlier revisions, non-root APs in a mesh network are converted to Mesh ACS to determine the best channel.
The root AP can be configured for Auto or Fixed Channel. Mesh ACS and Smart RF offer different channel plans. The AP makes use of each plan, respectively. When using Fixed Channel, configure a channel that is part of the Mesh ACS channel plan because non-root APs use Mesh ACS. The root-AP uses the Smart RF channel plan for Auto configuration while performing as a root AP:
  • When Monitor Primary Port Link is enabled and the backhaul connection is lost, the AP serves as a non-root AP and uses Mesh ACS to find a new root-AP.
  • When Monitor Primary Port Link is not enabled and the backhaul connection is lost, the AP is lost.
To configure Mesh Device Settings in a configuration Profile:
  1. On the Profile Mesh Points tab, select a single mesh network from one or more AP radio drop-down field.
  2. Select Advanced.
  3. Configure the following parameters:
    Note

    Note

    Most of the configuration settings apply to non-root APs only.
Table 1. Mesh Device Settings
AP Model Option AP Behavior
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Root
Note: Wi-Fi 6 access points can be part of the same mesh network, but they cannot participate in a mesh network with AP39xx. AP39xx access points must be a separate mesh network from the Wi-Fi 6 APs.
 A root mesh point is defined as a mesh point that is connected to the WAN and provides a wired backhaul to the network. Select the root behavior of this mesh point.
  • Yes — Mesh point is root node for this mesh network.
  • No — Mesh point is not a root node for this mesh network. (Additional settings display.)
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Monitor Primary Port Link (Available for root APs) With Monitor Primary Port Link enabled, if a root AP loses connection to the backhaul, the non-root APs scan for a new root AP and the original root performs service as a non-root AP. When the original root AP restores connectivity, it resumes the role of root AP. Through the use of Automatic Channel Selection (ACS), the optimum path is restored.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Preferred Neighbor (Available for non-root APs) Select the preferred Neighbor (AP name and radio) from a list of APs with a root or non-root mesh radio.

When a non-root AP can see mesh beacons from more than one neighbor, this setting configures the AP to prefer one beacon over all others when choosing a path back to the root.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Preferred Root (Available for non-root APs) Select the preferred root AP from a list of APs with a root mesh radio. Use this setting to balance the number of mesh points reporting to a specific root AP.
Radio Settings
Note: Dual-band support is available with Mesh Point. When one radio is configured for Mesh Point, both radios can provide service.
 Radio settings for the root-AP and non-root APs must match.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Channel Width Represents the desired channel width. The channel width is set for all APs in a device group. Available options include:
  • Auto – Channel width is calculated automatically by the AP. It is displayed in the user interface for informational purposes only.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Channel Plan Non-root APs are configured with Mesh ACS (Automatic Channel Selection). This allows the non-root AP to follow the channel and width of the uplink AP. The non-root AP scans channels to find the best path to a root AP. Preferred Root and Preferred Neighbor settings influence the path to the root AP.

For APs that support 6 GHz, PSC Channel is an option. Because numerous channels are offered on the 6 GHz band, it is a best practice to configure the Preferred Scanning Channel (PSC) so that the amount of probing is kept to a minimum. Preferred channels function as primary channels at each channel width: 20, 40, 80, and 160 MHz.

Note: Upon upgrade from earlier revisions, non-root APs in a mesh network are converted to Mesh ACS to determine the best channel.
Note: Path Minimum and Path Threshold are settings that refer to values in the Mesh Route Table. They are metric values determined by an algorithm that indicate when ACS scans for a better mesh point radio channel.

The best route path algorithm includes elements such as hop count, data rates, RSSI, and loss rate. A perfect score is 1179.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Path Minimum The minimum root path metric value is used to evaluate the channel during the Mesh ACS scan process. Only the mesh point with a root path metric less than the minimum root path is considered a candidate mesh point that can hop to the mesh point root.

Valid values are 100-20000. Default value is 1000. The lower metric value indicates a better quality mesh link to the root.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Path Threshold The maximum root path metric value that determines when to evaluate the mesh point radio channel for a better path to the gateway. When the current path metric value exceeds this threshold, an ACS scan is triggered on the mesh point. Valid values are 800-65535. Default value is 1500. Setting this value below 1500 will result in more frequent channel scans.
Wi-Fi 6 AP models Tolerance Period

This is a buffer period (in seconds) between when the metric value exceeds the Path Threshold and the scan begins. Set the number of seconds to allow the root path metric to recover before a scan begins.

Valid values are 10-600. Default value is 60.
AP39xx Root
  • Yes - Mesh point is root node for this mesh network.
  • No - Mesh point is not a root node for this mesh network.
AP39xx Only Path Selection Method Select the method used for path selection in a mesh network. Available options include:
  • Uniform – The path selection method is uniform (two paths are considered equivalent if the average value is the same for these paths). Use this method for regular infrastructure meshing.
  • SNR-Leaf – Use this method in special infrastructure cases when it is more desirable to make path decisions based on SNR than on metric values.
AP39xx Only Hysteresis Minimum Threshold This is the minimum SNR value to consider a candidate for the next hop in a dynamic mesh network. For the AP39xx, this value maps to the Roaming Threshold value.
  • 100dB to 85dB maps to Low
  • 84dB to 70dB maps to Medium
  • 69dB to 0dB maps to High
Note

Note

Do not rename an AP after it is added to a mesh network. Renaming the device affects the display of the reported statistics.
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