It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that allows for improving the self-healing capability of a network, wherein the apparatus is adapted to be part of a network (100), like a ZigBee network. The operation apparatus (110) is adapted to operate a network device (101) and comprises a network information providing unit (111), wherein the network information refers to information with respect to maintenance messages (105, 106, 107) sent and/or received by a network device (101) and/or a neighboring network device (103, 104) to maintain the network, a determination unit (112) for determining self-related connection information from the network information, wherein the self-related connection information refers to information on the connection of the network device itself with the network, and a control unit (113) for controlling the network device based on the self-related connection information.