Changing access point (AP) device type based on connectivity to a network

A method for changing a device type of an Access Point (AP) comprising:

• operating the Access point as a Backhaul Mesh Access Point (BMAP) including establishing a route to an Infrastructure Access Point (IAP) for connectivity to a Wide Area Network (WAN) when the Access Point is not connected to the Wide Area Network (WAN);
• monitoring, at the Access point, a WAN port for multicast heartbeat messages (MCHBMs) originating from a multicast heartbeat message (MCHBMI source;
• determining, at the Access Point, whether the Access Point has received a number of multicast heartbeat messages from the MCHBM source within a time interval;
• determining, at the Access Point, that the WAN port of the Access Point has established connectivity to the WAN network when the Access Point determines that the number of multicast heartbeat messages have been received within the time interval;
• and
• operating the Access Point as an Infrastructure Access Point (IAP) when it is determined that the WAN port of the Access Point has established connectivity to the WAN network.