Mesh parent

Question

I have few questions for mesh network:
what exactly is a parent, child and neigbor in mesh network
1.can a mesh access point act as parent or child to another mesh neighbor ?
2. an electronic temperature gauge connects to root access point eventhough another mesh access point
   is near to it.Any reason why is it so and if we can forcibly make it connect to the nearer one
3. should the gain be set manually on each access point or should it be left to default as it is seen in controller
4. should the gain if set manually be set on both 802.11a & g
5. What is the ideal snr for optimal connectivity.
thanks in advance

Answer 1

1-
Parent: the root AP that other APs connect to as a child.
Child: the AP that reaches controller through another AP (through the parent AP).
Neighbor: an AP that the mesh AP can hear but it is not connected to it. So it can be heared but it is neighbor parent nor a child.
This link must be read so you understand this:  http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Mobility/emob41dg/ch8_MESH.html#wp1016044
2- Root AP may have better signal. being closer does not necessarily mean you have better signal. The further AP may have higher power level than the closer one. Test power levels. also, try to make the guage disconnect and connect again and test.
3- Gain is put in order to maintain power levels set by authority. leaving it blank may make the ap exceed the power threshold specified by the authorities. You need to specify the accurate gain under the antenna (for external antennas only).
4- You need to set the gain under both b/g and a radios. each radio may have different transmit power and different antenna gains.
5- There is no ideal value for SNR. It all depends on your requirements and your site. I would say 20+ SNR value is OK. But it may vary slightly depending on your area that you want to cover and clients that connect.
HTH
Amjad