Meraki China Equipment - Question

[Ben-Graves]

Hi All,

Simple question-

If I have a location in China with 4 Meraki APs to bring online, with an MPLS connection back to Germany(only).

Do I add these devices to the China dashboard, or to the normal Meraki dashboard? 

(Concerns about adding them to the China dashboard with an internet connection coming from Germany and if they will be able to connect)

Thanks!

Ben

[PhilipDAth]

I don't know the answer.

I'd add them to the normal dashboard because it would be easier for me to manage.

[MerakiDave]

There is a pretty good documentation article on this, is/was this helpful? https://documentation.meraki.com/zGeneral_Administration/Support/Information_for_Users_in_China

I don't know your exact connectivity or if this is behind the GFWC but it sounds like you might just be able to add them to your Germany Dashboard and have it work, but reading the fine print, you might be required to have these APs on the dashboard.meraki.cn dashboard.  I'd connect with your local Cisco Meraki account team to get a definitive answer. 

[Ben-Graves]

Hi,

I reviewed that before posting the question, it doesn't exactly answer my question, so not helpful for me but in general I'm sure it's useful for others.

As a note - So far having them in the China dashboard hasn't worked. The APs don't check into the dashboard for China from the Germany connection.

We will try to move them into the normal dashboard and see if they check in there.

Thanks

[SO]

As a matter of fact, it was possible to register devices in China on the global dashboard in the past, but as described, communication to the global cloud may become unstable. I have currently registered the equipment in China on the Chinese dashboard as described. A very troublesome Chinese government policy has been promulgated in recent years, but it seems that there is no choice but to follow it. They especially hate cross-border encrypted communications that are not under their jurisdiction.

https://documentation.meraki.com/zGeneral_Administration/Support/Information_for_Users_in_China

>Overview

>Cross-border Service Availability

I currently have equipment in China and Japan, also use China and Global Dashboard. The benefits of Meraki are spoiled because the Organization is inevitably split.

BTW, adding APs within China to the Chinese dashboard should not be a problem in itself. If you are able to access the Chinese dashboard from Germany without any problems. If you can't register APs within China to the Chinese dashboard, that's another matter.