Owners manual
308 | Mesh IAP Configuration Aruba Instant 6.4.0.2-4.1 | User Guide
The mesh portal broadcasts a mesh services set identifier (MSSID/ mesh cluster name) to advertise the mesh
network service to other mesh points in that Instant network. This is not configurable and is transparent to the user.
The mesh points authenticate to the mesh portal and establish a link that is secured using Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES) encryption.
The mesh portal reboots after 5 minutes when it loses its uplink connectivity to a wired network.
Mesh Points
The mesh point establishes an all-wireless path to the mesh portal. The mesh point provides traditional WLAN
services such as client connectivity, intrusion detection system (IDS) capabilities, user role association, and Quality
of Service (QoS) for LAN-to-mesh communication to clients and performs mesh backhaul/network connectivity.
Mesh point also supports LAN bridging. You can connect any wired device to the downlink port of the mesh point. In
the case of single Ethernet port platforms such as AP-93 and AP-105, you can convert the Eth0 uplink port to a
downlink port by enabling Eth0 Bridging. For additional information, see Configuring Wired Bridging on Ethernet 0 for
Mesh Point on page 308.
Setting up Instant Mesh Network
Starting from Instant 6.4.0.2-4.1 release, mesh functionality is disabled by default, because of which over-the-air
provisioning of mesh IAPs is not supported.
To provision IAPs as mesh IAPs:
1. Connect the IAPs to a wired switch.
2. Ensure that the Virtual Controller key is synchronized and the country code is configured.
3. Ensure that a valid SSIDis configured on the IAP.
4. If the IAP has a factory default SSID (instant SSID), delete the SSID.
5. If an extended SSID is enabled on the virtual controller, disable it and reboot the IAP cluster.
6. Disconnect the IAPs that you want to deploy as mesh points from the switch and place the IAPs at a remote
location. The IAPs power on without any wired uplink connection and function as mesh points and the IAPs with
valid uplink connections function as the mesh portal.
Instant does not support the topology in which the IAPs are connected to the downlink ethernet port of a mesh point.
Configuring Wired Bridging on Ethernet 0 for Mesh Point
Instant supports wired bridging on the Ethernet 0 port of an IAP. If IAP is configured to function as a mesh point, you
can configure wired bridging.
Enabling wired bridging on this port of an IAP makes the port available as a downlink wired bridge and allows client
access through the port.
When using 3G uplink, the wired port will be used as downlink.
You can configure support for wired bridging on the Ethernet 0 port of an IAP using the Instant UI or CLI.