Change Mesh Password (and name)

Hello, I’d like to be able to change the password I used for my mesh network. Although I can seem to rename the devices connected I can’t find how to either change the password, or rename the network. Is there a way?

Hey Ken,

There isn’t technically a way to change the information of an existing network. But what you can do is put your device into listening mode (dark blinking blue) by holding down MODE for about 3 seconds. From there, run through the setup like you did for initial setup. From there, whatever you set your mesh network credentials to will override the previous ones.

Thanks mstanley. I’ve connected another device already, and I guess I could re-setup the network entirely but it seems like rotation passwords will be something I’ll want to do on occasion. It would be nice if there was a good workflow for this.

Hey Ken,

It’s not the cleanest method for sure. Unfortunately, our UX flows are currently rather limited as we’ve been focusing more on reliability than additional features.

Changing network info is definitely on the to do list though. So if you can bear with us for a bit, I promise it will be there in the near future!

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That works for me, just wanted to make sure it was on the list. Thanks!

Hello Matthew,

Any update on this? When searching for information on how these things works I came across this post showing that key rotation is possible, and how it’s done in openthread:

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/openthread-users/Q9sKn6W8hE4/wlc5vgoMBgAJ

It would be nice to be able to rotate both the master and pre-shared key.

I just went to add another device to my mesh network and it tells me the password is incorrect. It is the same password successfully used to setup several devices prior. Definitely need a way to reset it from the console. I’m baffled why it says now it is incorrect.

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I’ve had same situation occur. Not sure how to progress this. If you can’t change the password.

So based on your and @TimGTech’s post, I’m wondering now if I didn’t forget my password and instead there was some type of bug that made it not work.

In case it helps I used a hack to connect new nodes to the existing mesh without knowing the password.

Yes I found the same issue. It appears the password on the Android app is truncated when configuring the Mesh network but not when adding a new device. This was when the devices were first shipped so it may not be an issue with new setups.

This was when the devices were first shipped so it may not be an issue with new setups.

This is correct: we did have an issue with this immediately after the devices first shipped, but it's been long since fixed.

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I’m not sure if the original issue I had has been resolved. What I would like is the ability to remove the defunct mesh network that I had to scrap from the console. You can crate a network but you can’t remove one.

Right; I was just replying to JumpMaster’s comment.

As for removing networks, have you tried the Control Panel feature yet? It’s available by tapping on a device in the app, and hitting the gear menu in the upper right.

I looked in the Control Panel under each device that is part of my current mesh network. None of them show any information and say the app needs to be paired to the device. I don’t see anything regarding the networks at all or an option to remove one.

Which devices are listed as part of your defunct mesh(es)?
You’d need to select that device and cut its ties to that network.
If you already have unclaimed a device connected to a mesh before removing it from the mesh, you’d need to reclaim it and tie it to another network.

Granted, a dedicated delete mesh option would provide a much better UX.
But this poses other issues in itself.
e.g.

  • how do you tell all your devices that their owning network has been scrapped - especially when they are not online?
  • how should devices behave after their network has been scrapped but they didn’t get reassigned to another?
  • what if you accidentally removed a mesh with tons of devices connected to and they immediately get informed to fall appart?

Currently the life and death of a mesh depends on its nodes. As long at least one node needs the mesh to exist it will carry on living. Only after all nodes have found a new home the network will vanish.
The precarious thing about this approach is that you can add a node to a mesh under your account but then unclaim that node, which would cause the device to vanish from your account but the node would still maintain its ties to your mesh. Consequently you wouldn’t know which device has to cut ties to make the mesh disappear as you can’t even see the device ID anymore (I guess) - that’s where Particle would need to jump in and find the lose ends and sever all ties manually.

Correct, for most Control Panel operations, the app must talk to the devices via BLE, not via the internet/a mesh connection/etc. Once you pair to the device, you can get to the options in Control Panel for viewing the current mesh network on the device, and have an option to remove the device from the mesh.

@jensck_particle Thanks for clarifying that. I did connect to my mesh devices and could see the network details. I think it would be useful to see that info without needing to connect directly to the device. Especially if you have a network of 100 nodes over a 10 square mile area. I know this is all still a work in progress though.

As @ScruffR had mentioned, I might have to get Particle to nix the old test network which now has no devices connected to it. I can see how accidentally deleting a network with a bunch of devices connected could be disastrous and how to go about recovering from that “woopsie!” I think an option to remove an offline device that could have possibly “kicked the bucket” from the network would be handy and then an option to remove a network that has no devices associated with it.

I appreciate all the feedback. :grinning:

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