Add a Sophos Access Point using the Onboarding Wizard

The Sophos Central Wireless Onboarding Wizard guides the first registration of a Sophos Access Point, the initial SSID, and the site assignment. The process is short, but in practice it can fail quickly because of missing internet access, DNS, NTP, or an unreachable Sophos Central connection.

Info: The Onboarding Wizard appears only when adding the first Access Point. If an Access Point has already been linked, later registration is done through the normal Wireless area in Sophos Central.

Requirements

• Sophos Central account with access to Wireless
• Sophos Access Point with power and network connection
• Access Point serial number
• working DHCP, DNS, internet, and NTP access
• fulfilled network requirements for Sophos Central Wireless

Add Sophos Access Point

1. Sign in to the Sophos Central account

Sign in to Sophos Central Admin at https://central.sophos.com and open Wireless.

2. Register Sophos Access Point

If no Access Point has been configured yet, Sophos Central opens the Onboarding wizard. Enter the serial number and click Register. Sophos Central searches for the Access Point, assigns it to the tenant, and then checks whether a firmware update is required.

Important: During registration and firmware update, the Access Point should not be disconnected from power or the network. An interrupted update can require the Access Point to be reset or registered again.

If the Access Point is not found, first check cabling, DHCP address, DNS resolution, NTP, and outbound connections. The most important ports and restrictions are summarised in the article on Sophos Central Wireless requirements.

3. Set up SSID

The next step creates the first SSID. The SSID is the visible or hidden network name later broadcast by the Access Point. For a production WLAN, name, encryption, password, and assignment to the intended site should be reviewed deliberately.

Note: Sophos selects usable default values. Even so, encryption, password length, and later separation of internal, guest, and IoT networks should not be left to the wizard but planned as part of the WLAN design.

4. Add site

The final step documents the site. This may feel optional with a single Access Point, but becomes important as soon as multiple sites, floors, or outdoor devices are managed.

Check after onboarding

After registration, briefly check:

• The Access Point appears in Sophos Central under Wireless > Access points.
• The status is online and the firmware status shows no running error.
• The SSID is assigned to the correct Access Point or site.
• A test client receives IP address, DNS, and internet access.
• For guest or IoT WLANs, the intended firewall and VLAN rules apply.

If registration fails, resetting the Access Point is often only the last step. Network path, time/NTP, outbound ports, and the correct serial number are better checks first.