I wanted to do a reality check before planning on using the photon in a project.
In the past every time I have tried to connect to the photon via a phone in the setup process it has failed to connect to the device, I have had to use the USB connection. I have tried it on both iOS and Android, and on multiple Android devices.
Has this problem be found and fixed?
Let me ping someone that might be able to help, @rickkas7 are you able to assist?
Lack of any official response makes me think that this is still an issue. Too bad I was willing to pay a little more for the particle, but mostly working is not going to cut it.
I was reading about other people’s deployment issues and what is the point of having wifi if it’s not dead easy to deploy.
Hey there @batFastard
Are you hoping to use the Particle App in a project or use the Particle iOS and Android SDKs to build a custom app that your customers will use to configure Particle devices?
Many of the improvements that we make to the system firmware on the device improve the setup experience, so if you’re having issues we always recommend upgrading to the most recent version of system firmware.
What version of system firmware is running on your device? You can find the version of system firmware by putting your device into listening mode (flashing blue) and running particle serial identify using the CLI.
Hi @will
I am planning/hoping to use the particle in a product I am designing. What it arrives at the customer’s home, they will be able to use the wifi connection to configure and customize the programs that are running on the particle.
I was hoping it would be possible for them to utilize a mobile phone app (which we will write) to choose what is displayed on the device.
My firmware version is 0.6.3
Hi @will
…Maybe I am going about this incorrectly.
My goal is to have users be able to send data to the photon.
The best way to do this might be by publishing an event from the mobile app via the cloud. So the user would not actually need to be able to connect to the device via Wifi.However the device would need an internet connection via wifi.
That takes the question back to the original. Can I depend on the wifi connection being used for the initial setup working correctly. Since user will not have the skill nor access to do it via USB connection.
Using the example softAP in the docs is a good start for getting them connected. As far as reliability, I’ve been using photons in the field for almost 2 years now, the only issue I’ve had turned out to be Wi-Fi equipment, I started using Ubiquiti AP’s and all my issues went away.
Indeed once you have the particle connected the publish/subscribe is great. My concern is getting the particle connected in consumers homes. However I have no ability to choose my access points in the customers home, I have to work with the vast majority (99%+) or existing wireless routers.
This gets back to WPS support. Without it I need to find a different solution.
The softAP page is how I let my customers connect. Add into your instructions “connect to Wi-Fi Photon’xxxx, then type 192.168.0.1 into the address bar” it walks them through everything else.