I just finished installing 3 Pro6’s and 1 Outdoor. Only one AP is direct, rest is mesh. All the indoor APs are fine, but the outdoor one will not connect to the mesh. If I connect it via cable, it will eventually build a connection to another of the indoor APs, but choose Ch 100 on 5GHz.
I was advised by a friend to set the same Channel for all APs (36) and initially I had issues with choosing that in the Outdoor, but eventually it became an option, so I changed it, but then unable to connect. I found a thread that mentions similar issues: 5Ghz channel “locked” on AP6 Pro Outdoor! - Access Points - Alta Labs5Ghz channel “locked” on AP6 Pro Outdoor! - Access Points - Alta Labs
I am sure I will be able to connect if I connect a cable again, but ideally I want a Mesh for easier install.
All APs are running latest 2.4e FW.
For testing, I reset the Outdoor AP, put an indoor AP very close to it to make them mesh, but had no luck connecting them.
Any thoughts on this?
You usually don’t want your aps to be on the same channel, this can cause issues and interference. For just a few accesspoints I would recommend just setting them to auto. If you go under settings >> advanced >> at the bottom where it says auto channel replanning hold the shift key and it should change to Full replan. You should get pretty good performance from that. It will scan do see what channels are not congested and pick the best one along with picking power levels.
Understood, I have to admit that I was going by AI recommendations on this one 
However, it does not really solve the issue that I was unable to make the outdoor AP succesfully mesh with network. i.e. It simply did not show any connection. I read somwhere that perhaps it is best to set it up via cable first and then it will start to connect?
With regards to leaving APs on auto, I will definitely try that, but would still want to control 2.4Ghz so that it is not interfering with my Zigbee on channel 20 and 25.
I am currently not at the install location, so no way for me to do any testing. It will have to wait for another 10 days.
I’m not sure where you are located, but depending on the regulatory requirements, there may be some channels that are allowed on the indoor APs, which are not allowed on your Outdoor APs. If you adjust the indoor APs to 36, then 100, then 149, you should be able to find one of the 5 GHz bands that is available for your Outdoor AP to mesh to.
I live in Iceland. I actually did have some issues choosing some available channels. I had to do some selective/combination changes to get to Channel 36.
However, I then reset the AP, set it up via the app, but it did not connect to the mesh. Even though I put one of the other APs very close to it (~3 meters, ~10 feet).
Is it correct that I should connect it with a cable for the initial install to get it to mesh successfully?
As mentioned, I am no longer onsite and will not be back until 10 days time. At that point I will probably try to connect a cable to the outdoor AP. I would rather not take it down and bring it indoors as I am likely to drop the fastening screws while taking it down
So, I am now on location. If I connect a cable to the outdoor AP, then things obviously work fine. It will expand a mesh towards another Indoor AP and that will get a better signal. However, as soon as I disconnect the cable, I will lose access to the Outdoor AP.
I.e. it looks like it is unable to connect to the APs around it, even though they are not far away and should be sufficient.
I set almost all settings to auto, exception being 2.4ghz network channels.
The installation site does not have any neighbours around, I am connected via external Wimax to an ISP on 5Ghz.
The outdoor AP is above a corrugate tin roof, but all surround buildings are wooden.
Here are some screenshots from when it worked on Cable and one where I had disconnected the cable.
Summary
All APs are up to date on FW.
Any thoughts on what could be wrong?
EDIT: I brought it in, it will not even connect there via Mesh, within 3 meters line of sight. Therefore I conclude that it will absolutely not mesh, but if connected via cable, it will mesh with other APs.
Could this be a lemon device? Any thoughts on how to further check on this?
Have you tried configuring your uplink AP on channels 36, 52, 100, 120, and 149? The downlink Outdoor unit should see the uplink on at least one of those channels, but you may need to manually select it.
I have not tried that. I as under the impression that the APs would arrange things by setting them on Auto. I do notice that the outdoor AP (that is currently on a cable) has now connected to 2 of the other APs on channel 100. However, the AP that is closest to it in distance (about 1.2 meters) is on channel 44.
The Outdoor AP can only be set to channels above 100.
So when you tell me to configure the uplink AP, then it is just one of the other APs of my choosing?
I was also hoping to be able to do some more deep dive troubleshooting. I don´t want to end up in a situation where I prop the outdoor AP back on the roof and get zero response. Those 4 very tiny screws are very fiddly to secure while standing on a ladder
This is the current connection setup:
If you set the AP that is closest to the Outdoor to channel 100, then the others on Auto, then you should be good.
I will check this out on-site this coming weekend and report back.
Status update. So far, so good..
I remotely changed the channel of the uplink AP too 100 and the Outdoor AP to the same. Once I arrived on-site, I unplugged the Outdoor AP from the network and after a while it seemed to work over the mesh.
I moved it to the roof and connected it. At first, it did not connect, so I did a full scan, which seems to have enabled it to join. I therefore recommend that is done.
On another note, I left the outdoor AP connected to the 8 port PoE switch. Over the last week I saw some network up/down notices, but didn´t think too much of it. Turns out that the switch was rebooting. After I disconnected the outdoor AP from PoE it has not gone down.
Are there any logs that can tell why the switch rebooted? Is there any “Advanced” mode for the management interface?
I did notice that there was a PoE Firmware update available, so I ran that, but won´t know if it did anything as I don´t have the Outdoor AP connected anymore.
So, long story short, things are working now and it is looking good. Thanks for the support!
