Authentication and claim codes for E-series

I have read the docs at
https://docs.particle.io/guide/how-to-build-a-product/authentication/
At step 5 (5. Connect device to Wi-Fi), It says that the particle device broadcasts a WiFi network. The customer’s phone connects to the WiFi AP and sends claim code to particle device.

Is this true also for Electron & E-Series devices? Do they have integrated WiFi AP for claiming the device, or is the documentation false?
If it is false, what does the claiming process for Electron and E-series look like?

Nope, the E-Seris devices are Cellular devices and have nothing to do with WiFi.
But the claiming process should be just the same with the WiFi references just adapted to the Cellular context where applicable.

But you should have got a card board with your E-Series that refers you to setup.particle.io where you will be taken through the process.

1 Like

Thanks, I went through the setup procedure (although without the device) and it asked me for the device serial number that should be on a sticker on the back of the board.

It seems that this is the way to claim the E-series device (and it is quite different than for WiFi devices).

While you can use claim codes and customer accounts (either simple auth or two-legged shadow customers) with cellular devices (Electron and E series), many product creators do not.

The reason is that there’s a lot of friction to setting up an account and especially setting up billing for SIM cards. It’s often more practical for the product creator to have all of the SIM cards billed to their own account, and they either have their own monthly charge that they bill the customer directly to cover the SIM and their expenses, or build it into the price of an expensive product.

Freed of the need to set up networking and paying for the SIM there’s really little left to require a customer account, so many product creators just claim their devices to a single account that they control.

The customer would then only interact with the product’s web site or mobile app directly, and not even use Particle accounts.

1 Like