Onboarding a New Device
Onboarding is adding a new trusted device to an existing Blackout Comms private cluster.
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A cluster only has one root device
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Only the root can onboard new devices
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Onboarding is adding a new communicator or link/node to a private cluster
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After onboarding, other devices in the cluster will learn to trust and use the new device. This learning can take a few minutes to a few hours, as trust propagates throughout the mesh network
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Onboarding only needs to be done once per device
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Ensure the devices are well within LoRa range
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Ensure no other devices are waiting to be onboarded
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New nodes/links are waiting to be onboarded as soon as they power on
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Multiple devices trying to onboard or be onboarded will conflict with one another. Be sure this isn't happening
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​Sometimes onboarding can take more than one attempt. You can safely restart devices and try onboarding again if they become stuck.
For clusters with 3+ devices, things can become somewhat unstable until the newly-onboarded device is trusted by all devices in the cluster. If possible, it's best to have all devices present during onboarding, and leave them all running for several hours afterwards, so the cluster can quickly learn and stabilize.
Onboarding Steps - Root Device
1. Go to Settings
2. Cluster + Onboard Device
3. Wait a few minutes
Onboarding Steps - New Device (Non-Root)
1. Go to Settings
2. Cluster + Join Cluster
3. Wait a few minutes