For several years, Meraki APs have been adorned with several LEDs, depicting the strength of connection to the LAN (be that via an Ethernet cable or mesh neighbor) plus a simple multi–function LED indicating cloud connection status, upgrading firmware or connection issues. For customers wishing to keep their APs as discrete as possible, there is an option to ‘Run Dark’, turning all LEDs off.

Today, the majority of our customers are using their APs in what we call ‘gateway mode’, i.e., connected to the LAN via an Ethernet cable. Where practical from a cabling perspective, this approach will always yield the best performance, as the radios in the AP can be dedicated to serving clients without having to additionally backhaul traffic to mesh neighbors.

Running in gateway mode, the AP’s signal strength LEDs all remain illuminated, and for those customers who require it the dashboard provides a detailed view of mesh signal strength to all neighbors. So for the design of our latest AP, the MR34, Meraki took the opportunity to clean up the design of the front of the AP by removing the 6 LEDs on earlier models and replacing them with a single multi–function LED on the underside.

The new single LED is capable of displaying multiple colors which are used to indicate various conditions, as follows:

Orange	AP is booting
Blinking Blue	AP is upgrading firmware
Green	AP in Gateway mode with no clients associated
Blue	AP in Gateway mode with clients associated
Blinking Orange	AP can’t find an uplink

 

The steady state blue LED indicating associated clients is unobtrusive, but as with earlier models can be turned off in the dashboard if preferred.

Worthy of a special mention is the boot sequence, where the LED provides a rainbow light show as it runs through diagnostics and gets itself connected to the LAN. Here it is in action:

We believe aesthetics matter, even in the workplace, and indeed many of our customers tell us they love the design of our APs. Even small changes like the new LED and the levelling tool integrated into the MR34’s mounting plate make a contribution. We’d love to hear what you think of the new design through our social media channels.