In my IoT class, I switched this semester to have students use setup.particle.io instead of the Particle app to claim their device. On our campus, we have an open wifi network (no password or credentials needed) that we have always used for Argons.
Unfortunately, we discovered this week the web-based tool doesn't allow them to connect to the open network because it won't let them enter a blank password. After trying for a long time, we went back to using the Particle app and everything connected properly.
Does anyone have any recommendations about how to use the web-based tool to connect to open wifi networks?
There is no support for connecting to hidden SSIDs on Argon devices.
On the P2 and Photon 2, there is partial support for hidden SSIDs in Device OS 5.5.0-rc.1. However, there is an API change and tools like web setup, the Particle CLI, and the web device doctor do not have the ability to configure it. It can be configured on-device using the Device OS API.
The network we connect the Argon doesn't have a hidden SSID. It is a public network on campus (public SSID with no password). The Argon can see the SSID and connect to it when using the Particle app as well as CLI in Workbench so it seems that the blank password on setup.particle.io is causing an issue.
The Configure Wi-Fi tool is different. It looks like it should work with an empty password but I haven't tested it.
The main usage difference is that Configure Wi-Fi only configures Wi-Fi and does not affect claiming or anything like that. It was intended to be the way to add a second Wi-Fi network easily.
The setup.particle.io tool flashes Device OS, claims the device, and sets up an initial product.
That’s really helpful to know. It sounds like hopefully there is a fix for setup.particle.io since students need to setup Wi-Fi as well as claim the
device.
