Access Points won't mesh: what to do?

Plasma Cloud's wireless mesh is self-forming and self-healing with automated recovery and fail-over functions built in: when the uplink connection is lost, devices scan their neighborhood and automatically connect to a working mesh network nearby, if available. Learn more on our auto-recovery mechanism in this article.

Even though our mesh works right out-of-the-box, there may be other factors affecting the quality of your mesh network in which case user intervention may be needed. This article provides a list of possible issues and how to solve them.

Generally, the use of WiFi AI is recommended. It provides automated and regular WiFi setting updates (depending on the maintenance window configuration), allowing for a reliable and continuous adaption to changing RF environments.

Old firmware

For Access Points to mesh, a firmware version 3.3 or newer is needed. You can check the firmware version of your APs on the Plasma Cloud console. Simply navigate to Access Points in the main menu on the left and scroll down to see the table. If you cannot find the Firmware version column, first click on the View Options button on top of the table and tick the firmware version option.

Make sure all APs belonging to a wireless mesh network are running on firmware version 3.3 or above. If this is not the case, please upgrade your APs. You can learn more on firmware upgrades in this article.

Mismatching firmware

Access Points perform best whenever the same firmware version is installed across the entire network, with the latest stable version being highly recommended. For this reason, we strongly suggest to keep the automatic firmware upgrade setting enabled. This allows your APs to auto-upgrade to the latest firmware version within the next scheduled maintenance window after a new firmware release.

You can configure ‘over the air’ firmware upgrades by navigating to Settings > Network in the main menu on the left. The toggle is in the “Firmware upgrade” section of the page. Please note this setting is enabled by default when you create a new network.

Incompatible channel assignment

Access Points cannot mesh if the channel assigned to mesh APs and their gateways is different. Please ensure that mesh APs and their gateways use the same channel or, even better, enable WiFi AI and let it automatically configure the best channels for your APs.

The use of manual channel configuration is suggested for advanced users only. You can do so by either configuring a network-wide channel or setting channels on each AP independently. Simply access the network or device settings page, scroll down to the Radio sections and select a channel from the drop-down menus.

Low signal strength

A low signal strength between a mesh AP and its gateway may cause the wireless mesh to stall and eventually break. We always recommend to perform onsite tests and accurate planning before deploying your network. Please consider:

• The distance between mesh AP and gateway should never be too large;
• The presence of physical obstacles and other WiFi networks may lower the throughput of your mesh;
• A long chain of meshing Access Points will eventually result in a very slow connection.

Still having issues with your wireless mesh and not sure why? Contact us explaining the problem. Please remember to also provide details such as organisation, network, MAC address of the problematic APs and anything else that may help us in understanding what is going on.