Provided is a machine-implemented method of operating a device, comprising entering the device into a membership relation with a first self-organizing subnet at a first rank in a hierarchy of subnets of the network; receiving at the device a message from a second device making known parameters of a second subnet at a second rank in the hierarchy of subnets of the network; and responsive to receipt of the message, sending a message from the first device making known parameters of the first subnet at the first rank to the second device to render the subnet at the second rank operable to merge with the subnet at the first rank.