The cnMaestro Cloud Anchor, explained: why you can’t add devices
The Cloud Anchor is Cambium’s online licensing service for cnMaestro On-Premises. Without it a controller keeps running but cannot add or remove devices, which is why moving to On-Premises solves this month’s problem but not next year’s.
The CloudWLC team at Optaro · · 5 min read
Most advice about leaving cnMaestro Cloud ends with “install cnMaestro On-Premises”. That is sound as far as it goes. What it leaves out is a dependency called the Cloud Anchor, and it changes how you should plan.
What the Cloud Anchor is
When you set up cnMaestro On-Premises, you create an Anchor account in Cambium’s cloud and link your controller to it. The Anchor handles licensing and entitlement: it is how your self-hosted controller is told which features it may use and which devices it may manage. New Anchor accounts currently come with a 90-day cnMaestro X trial; after that the controller runs in Essentials mode.
What happens if the Anchor goes away
Cambium’s own guidance answers this plainly: “cnMaestro on-premises will continue to work, but you will not be able to add or delete any devices.”
Think about what that means over the life of a hotel network. An access point fails in a bedroom corridor and the replacement cannot be adopted. A new wing opens and cannot be added. A site is sold and its devices cannot be released. The network you have keeps working; the network you need next year is out of reach.
Cambium says it plans to release an On-Premises image without this dependency before the Anchor shuts down. That would be welcome, and it is worth watching for. It is also a plan from a company in administration, so it should not be the only thing standing between you and a locked estate.
How to plan around it
- Get every device onto your new controller now. Approving an access point onto a controller counts as adding a device. Do it while the Anchor is running.
- Buy your spares early and adopt them. A spare that is already known to your controller is a spare you can use.
- Choose a controller that does not need the Anchor. This is the permanent fix.
A controller with no Anchor at all
CloudWLC Control is our own controller for Cambium access points. It talks to the access points directly, so there is no cnMaestro, no Anchor account and no Cambium login anywhere in the chain. Adding, replacing and removing devices keeps working for as long as the hardware does.
If you need to move this week, hosted cnMaestro gets your estate to safety with a guided migration, in the same CloudWLC account, and Control is there when you want to cut the dependency for good.
Quick answers
Why can’t I add devices to cnMaestro On-Premises?
Adding and removing devices relies on Cambium’s Cloud Anchor licensing service. Cambium’s guidance says that if the Anchor is unavailable the controller keeps working but cannot add or delete devices.
Does CloudWLC Control need a Cloud Anchor?
No. CloudWLC Control manages Cambium access points directly, with no cnMaestro, no Anchor account and no licence server.
Sources
CloudWLC is an independent service from Optaro. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by Cambium Networks, HPE Aruba Networking, RUCKUS Networks, Ubiquiti or any other equipment vendor.