I’m interested in using my new Argon boards for use in some devices that I would sell, but as such I need an extremely easy way for the end user to connect to their WiFi without having to touch the firmware or the Particle App. The old Photon boards supported a Soft AP but I can’t find anything for the Argon.
Is there any such functionality without rolling my own?
Ideally I’d want to flash known working firmware, remove it’s association with my account, and then sent it to the customer where they can via a soft AP and web page connect it to their WiFi. Maybe after holding a button for a few seconds.
1 Like
I don't know of such functionality yet, but I expect it to be on the roadmap.
That’s unfortunate. I wish they would come out with a simplified app that basically lets you claim a device without requiring an account. Just hold the reset button, pair it with phone, and put it on your local wifi. That would at least be a decent option.
Particle is in the process of implementing control requests which should enable you to access most settings you can currently access via CLI either via USB or BT, but it’s still early days.
Hmm… in that case. What would be the general process for disconnecting the device for my account and having a customer connect it to theirs with the app, without loosing the firmware that was pre-installed?
The installed firmware never gets lost by unclaiming the device or connecting it to another WiFi network.
Also if you are creating a product there is a dedicated workflow to separate development from actual usage of the device and hence the developer and the user are separated too.
Currently the product management stuff is not implemented for Gen3 devices but to get the idea you could investigate that feature for Gen1&2
https://docs.particle.io/tutorials/product-tools/security/
https://docs.particle.io/tutorials/product-tools/device-groups/
https://docs.particle.io/tutorials/product-tools/development-devices/
Ah, cool. Thanks. I guess I’ll follow that and hope it’s implemented by the time I want to go live.
Hey everyone, just wanted to call attention to a potential solution for this problem that I just posted here
Hopefully it can help solve some of these issues for you and your customers.
For future visitors:
@Dan-Kouba will your web BLE solution also work for the upcoming Photon 2?
And for the browser code (non-firmware side), is the best way just to View Source of your example site and copy/paste?
Thanks!
I've heard that the Photon2 will have a different flow, hence not the same BLE solution.
A quick update on the library — I’ve tested this library on the P2 and it works great. I’ve gone ahead and updated the library files to enable compilation for P2 and Argon targets.
Please note there is also a separate mechanism to set up WiFi on the P2 via BLE using a mobile app. If that is of interest, please reach out to me.
If you run into issues, please let me know!
1 Like
Hey Dan, that's great to hear.
I am interested in this other mechanism.
Could you start another thread with that info at your convenience?
Thanks!