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Create a mesh network

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

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

  1. Sign in to Sophos Central.
  2. Go to My Products > Wireless > SSIDs.
  3. Click Create.
  4. Enter a name for the SSID.

  5. Select APX or AP6.

    Note

    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.

  6. Select the Frequency band from the following options:

    • 6 GHz: Recommended for AP6. 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. The maximum bandwidth of a node gets reduced by 50% for each hop it has to make to reach the root access point.

  7. Select Enable mesh mode.

  8. Click Next.

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

    Tip

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

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

  11. AP6 only: Select an AP6 access point from the drop-down list to be the root access point.

    Note

    Only AP6 access points with the highest amount of radios and bandwidth are visible in the drop-down menu. This maximizes throughput in mesh networks with different models of AP6 access points.

  12. AP6 only: Connect an Ethernet cable to all AP6 access points and select the confirmation checkbox.

    Note

    For APX access points, you only need to connect the root to the network with an Ethernet cable. See FAQ.

  13. Click Next.

  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.
  16. Power off the access points, remove the physical network connection, and move them to their intended locations.
  17. Power on the access points. 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 can't edit an APX mesh network once it's been created. You delete it and create a new APX mesh network.

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.

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