Skip to content

Page permalink

Always use the following permalink when referencing this page. It will remain unchanged in future help versions.

https://docs.sophos.com/central/customer/help/en-us/index.html?contextId=wireless-SSID-mesh-network-create

Create a mesh network

You can create a mesh network using two or more Sophos APX or AP6 series access points.

You can only create mesh networks between access points of the same series. If you have a combination of APX and AP6 series access points, you must create separate mesh SSIDs for each.

Requirements

To set up a mesh network, you must meet the following requirements:

  • You must have two or more Sophos APX or AP6 series access points registered with Sophos Central.
  • You must have a physical connection to the network to set up access points. After the initial setup, you can disconnect the access points from the physical network.

Create the mesh SSID

Click the appropriate tab to see how to create a mesh SSID.

  1. Sign in to Sophos Central.
  2. Go to My Products > Wireless > SSIDs.

  3. Click Create AP6 and select Mesh.

    Note

    You can't select Mesh if you already have an AP6 mesh network configured. To create a new one, you must delete the existing mesh network.

  4. Select the Encryption mode. We recommend that you use the strongest encryption mode possible for your environment.

  5. Select the Frequency band from the following options:

    • 6 GHz: Recommended for AP6 420E and 840E. Highest bandwidth, very short range.
    • 5 GHz: Best balance of range and bandwidth.
    • 2.4 GHz: Longest range, lowest bandwidth.

    Tip

    We recommend that you select the frequency band with the highest available bandwidth. A node's maximum bandwidth is reduced by 50% for each hop it has to make to reach the root access point.

  6. Enter a name for the Backhaul SSID.

  7. Click Next.

  8. Under Available access points, select the access points to which you want to assign the mesh network.

    Tip

    You can add access points later from the access point details page. See Assigned SSIDs.

  9. Use the picker arrows to move them to Assigned access points.

  10. Select an AP6 access point from the drop-down list as the root access point. Only AP6 access points with the highest number of radios and bandwidth are visible in the drop-down list, which maximizes throughput in mesh networks with different models of AP6 access points.

    1. An AP6 root access point must have at least one SSID assigned to it with at least two radio bands turned on, one of which must be the same radio band as the mesh SSID. If there are no SSIDs assigned to the access point, you can click Create SSID to create an SSID to satisfy these requirements.

    2. All other AP6 access points that will become nodes can't have any SSIDs assigned to them. The root access point assigns SSIDs to them. Click Remove SSID(s) to remove SSIDs from node access points.

    3. If there are any SSIDs with configurations incompatible with mesh operation assigned to the access point, click Remove SSID(s) to remove them.

  11. Click Next.

  12. Select Enable SSID and click Save.
  13. Connect an Ethernet cable to all AP6 access points and select the confirmation checkbox.
  14. Click Save.
  15. Go to My Products > Wireless > Access Points. Wait for the Config Status of the access points to change to up to date.
  1. Sign in to Sophos Central.
  2. Go to My Products > Wireless > SSIDs.

  3. Click Create APX and select Mesh.

    Note

    You can't select Mesh if you already have an APX mesh network configured. To create a new one, you must delete the existing mesh network.

  4. Select the Encryption mode. We recommend that you use the strongest encryption mode possible for your environment.

  5. Select the Frequency band from the following options:

    • 5 GHz: Best balance of range and bandwidth.
    • 2.4 GHz: Longest range, lowest bandwidth.

    Tip

    We recommend that you select the frequency band with the highest available bandwidth. A node's maximum bandwidth is reduced by 50% for each hop it has to make to reach the root access point.

  6. Enter a name for the Backhaul SSID.

  7. Click Next.

  8. Under Available access points, select the access points to which you want to assign the mesh network.

    Tip

    You can add access points later from the access point details page. See Assigned SSIDs.

  9. Use the picker arrows to move them to Assigned access points.

  10. Click Next.
  11. Select Enable SSID and click Save.
  12. Connect an Ethernet cable to the root APX access point.
  13. Click Save.
  14. Go to My Products > Wireless > Access Points. Wait for the Config Status of the root access point to change to up to date.

Once the access points update, power them off, remove the physical network connection, move them to their intended locations, and power them on. It takes a few minutes before a mesh node access point recognizes that it’s no longer physically connected to the network and connects to the root node.

Edit or turn off a mesh SSID

To edit or turn off your mesh SSID, you must do as follows:

You must unassign a mesh network from all AP6 access points to change the details or turn it off.

Note

You must connect all access points back to the LAN network and re-assign the mesh SSID.

You can't edit an APX mesh network once it's been created. You delete it and create a new APX mesh network.

More resources