User's Manual Part 1

Introduction MeshMAX 5054 Series User Guide
Introduction to Wi-Fi and Mesh Networking
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Assume that links are established as shown in Figure 1-3. Solid lines indicate established links.
Figure 1-3 Mesh Startup Topoloy Example - Step 2
After the first Mesh links are formed, MAP2,4,7 and 8 will add the Mesh IE to their beacon and respond to probe requests
with a Mesh IE containing the same Mesh SSID and security settings. Eventually MAP 3 will find both MAP2 and 4 and
will setup a Mesh link with the one with the best path to the portal, say MAP2. Optimal paths have low “path costs;” path
costs are calculated based on the number of hops to the portal, RSSI (relative signal strength), and medium occupancy.
Once MAP4 has established a path to the Mesh portal, MAP 3 will also establish a Mesh link with MAP4, but that
connection will remain inactive. It will only be used as a possible alternative uplink for MAP3, and at the same time an
alternative uplink for MAP4. If for some reason the link from MAP4 to MP1 fails, MAP4 can still reach the backbone via
MAP3 and MAP2. The same goes for other MAPs that discover each other. After a short while, the network in this
example will look like Figure 1-4, where solid lines indicate active Mesh links and dotted lines indicate established but
inactive Mesh links.