A device performs a self-configure process for operations in a managed network to allocate a network address for the device by determining if the device will operate as a gateway of the managed network, obtaining a network address for communication with external devices outside of the managed network in response to determining that the device will operate as a gateway, scanning for neighbor devices operating in the managed network and maintaining a database of neighbor devices located in the scanning, and selecting a managed network to join based on the database of neighbor devices in response to determining that the device will operate as a node.