Extending your Network

The How to Extend your Network page provides instructions on two different ways by which you can add more devices to your network.

  • Extend using a cable
  • Extend over-the-air (Mesh)

Extend using a Cable

This option is available to you on the UI only if you have chosen to configure the Instant On devices in private network mode. To extend your network using a cable, follow these steps in the web application:

  1. Click the Devices () tile on the Instant On web application home page or click Devices from the navigation pane on the left. The Device Overview page is displayed.
  2. Click Add devices.
  3. To ensure optimal performance, connect your additional Instant On devices to the same switch as the first AP, using network cables. Power on the AP using Power over Ethernet (PoE) or DC power adapter (if you have ordered for it with the installation kit).
  4. Wait for the LED lights on the additional Instant On AP(s) to blink alternatively between green and amber.
  5. Review the device(s) discovered and add them to your site.

    Any unsupported device found during device discovery cannot be added to the inventory. An error message stating This device model is not supported will be displayed.

Extend Over the Air

To extend your network over the air, follow these steps in the web application:

  1. Connect at least one Instant On AP to a local wired switch or a router and ensure that the initial setup is complete.
  2. Place a wireless Instant On AP in a location within the Wi-Fi range and power it on. For more information, see Instant On AP Wireless Access Point Placement Guidelines.
  3. Wait for the LED lights on the wireless Instant On AP(s) to blink alternatively between green and amber.
  4. Review the device(s) discovered and add them to your site.

    Any unsupported device found during device discovery cannot be added to the inventory. An error message stating This device model is not supported will be displayed.

Scenarios That Trigger Error Messages When Adding Instant On Devices

Following are some of the scenarios that trigger an error message when adding an Instant On device during the Initial setup or through Extend my network:

Table 1: Scenarios and Error Messages

Scenario

Error Message

Entering a serial number of a device that is already onboarded on another site

Already assigned to another site.

 

Adding a device that is connected between the ISP modem and the Instant On router

Upon clicking Search for devices, the system will recognize and display the devices along with the following error message:

A new Instant On device that is connected between the ISP modem and the Instant On router shall not be allowed to be added to the network.

Entering the serial number of a device that is connected to another site, but not yet assigned

Device is on the same network as another site

Some of the error messages include a View details link. Click on View details, for a popup window with the explanation.

Instant On AP Wireless Access Point Placement Guidelines

Consider the following guidelines when installing additional APs in the wireless network:

  • Interfering sources or obstacles—Check for interfering sources or obstacles and install the APs on a ceiling or a wall.
  • Line of sight—If you can clearly see the wired AP from where you stand, it is likely that the AP will offer a strong signal and good coverage.
  • No line of sight—When line of sight is not possible, the APs should be placed in a close range to each other. The number of obstacles and type of materials heavily influence and attenuate the RF signal. In this scenario, a minimum distance of 16 feet (5 meters) and a maximum distance of 60 feet (18.25 meters) is recommended between the APs.
  • Wireless APs are placed on different floors—If you place the APs on different floors, try to align them along a vertical line.

 

These are general guidelines and you may need to experiment with the placement of your Instant On APs before settling down on a permanent location.

Deployment Scenarios for Outdoor Access Points

The versions prior to 1.4.0 of the Instant On product line includes both indoor and outdoor APs. However, the user interface did not allow specifying whether an AP is configured for servicing indoor or outdoor environments. In the case of an outdoor AP such as AP17 being setup as a mesh point, it may experience service disruptions when all the surrounding APs are indoor units. This is because many regulatory domains reduce the available channels for outdoor use. The result is that the indoor AP may choose to use a channel that is unavailable to the outdoor AP and hence, the AP17 mesh point will never be able to connect to the mesh portal. The following deployment scenarios for Outdoor APs help mitigate these problems:

Scenario 1: Provision a Site on the Outdoor AP Channel

In this solution, when the user attempts to extend the network, the UI prompts the user to confirm whether the new AP is an outdoor AP (example: AP17) being added as a mesh point. If so, the entire site is provisioned to operate on the outdoor AP channel as long as the outdoor AP is part of the Inventory. However, when an outdoor AP is removed from the Inventory, and there are no other outdoor APs present, then the site is switched back to operate on the AP installation default channel.

Scenario 2: New Site or Existing Site with no Outdoor Mesh Points

When extending the network, a choice is presented to the user to include the discovery of outdoor mesh APs in the search. One of the following two outcomes are possible in this scenario:

If the user chooses to discover outdoor APs as part of the search by selecting the Include over-the-air outdoor devices in search checkbox:

  • A warning message is displayed to indicate that the Wi-Fi network will be temporarily unavailable when search for over-the-air outdoor devices. All APs in the site are forced to the outdoor channel and power plan. All APs discovered in the search regardless of their type or connectivity status will be displayed and can be added to the inventory. If there are no outdoor APs discovered in this process, the site will revert to the default channel plan.

If the user chooses not to include Outdoor APs as part of the discovery operation:

  • The Search for my device operation will keep the default channel plan and search for both wired and wireless APs in the area. The over-the-air outdoor APs will be ignored in the search results. However, wired outdoor APs can still be found and added to the inventory, but they will operate separately on the outdoor channel plan.

Scenario 3: Existing sites with Mesh outdoor Access Points

If a mesh outdoor AP cannot find a mesh portal on an outdoor channel, then it will be displayed as offline by the user interface.

If a mesh outdoor AP is on a compatible channel, then the user interface displays it as up and running.

Scenario 4: Deleting Last Outdoor Mesh Point

When deleting the last outdoor mesh point, the site will revert to its default channel plan.