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.
I'm preparing for the new semester and want to consider the best way to claim Argons on our school's open wifi network. Has https://setup.particle.io/ been configured to work with open wifi networks? If not, should we still use the iOS / Android apps?
Also as a note, at least as of last Fall Configure Wi-Fi | Tools | Particle did indeed work to add an open wifi network to an already-claimed device, but it wouldn't work to setup/claim a new device when we were using an open wifi network.
Unfortunately, setup.particle.io is still not working for wifi networks without a password. Students are not able to use setup.particle.io to claim new devices (I'll paste a screenshot below).
Is there a solution you recommend other than using the Particle app to claim the device?
Is it really the fact that the network is open (w/o password) or is it rather due to the fact that Particle devices have no way to navigate a Captive Portal - so even when the webpage wouldn't block you from proceeding there the CP would be the ultimate road block.
Any other network that does not fall into any of the troublesome categories outlined in the Troubleshooting Guide should also work. From there on you can claim multiple ways (e.g. CLI)
Thanks ScruffR. Our school network doesn’t have a captive portal so it’s not that. You can use the particle app and CLI to claim the device on our network, and you can use Wifi setup tool to join our network once the device has been previously claimed.
You can use Wi-Fi setup to set up the Wi-Fi, then once it's online and breathing cyan you can claim the device using the Particle CLI or the Web IDE.
You can also use the Web device doctor which can both set the Wi-Fi credentials and has an option to claim the device after it comes online. Like the Wi-Fi setup tool, it allows an empty password. The web device doctor has an option to claim the device after it comes online (breathing cyan) if not already claimed.
