SparkCore and WIFI Trouble

Well, my experience thus far with SparkCore has been very frustrating. For starters, on the weekend, was able to setup a core using iPhone 6 and the app and flash an LED at a friends house (read as different router than at home). Returned home, started application and tried to change WIFI that core was using. No success. Tried several times, flushed cache on core, still no success in getting connected. Decided to go at this with USB, managed to connect and get core connected to WIFI but once the core connects, it seems to drop the COM port connection so trying to obtain Core Id with terminal with ā€œiā€ command not possible. Tried following directions for installation of CLI via node.js but installation fails due to some serial port package.
Iā€™m willing to accept ā€œuser errorā€ but at this point not sure how to proceed given I have not been able to claim the core and therefore not be able to play around with the build IDE.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Scott

Only one suggestion, out of several, after you entered your credentials over USB and the ā€œwā€ command, you need to put the Core into listening mode again by pressing the mode button till the RGB LED goes blue blinking again. Then you can enter the ā€œiā€ command again.

Possible reasons for your problem to go via your iPhone at home might be either a WiFi channel beyond 11 or the use of 801.11n while the Core only supports b & g.
To get around this, try forcing your router to use a channel <= 11 and only to use b & g for the claiming process. Afterwards you can reactivate n - but channels need to stay ā€œlowā€.

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Thanks for the reply. You are absolutely correct about a few things in your post. I did not realize that I had to reactivate the listening mode after attaching to the WIFI. Second, once I downgraded my router to Wireless G, everything connected and I was off to the races.
Thanks again and off to continue the ā€œGetting Startedā€ section

Scott

For future reference/readers;
The part about the Core needing to be in listening mode for a working Serial connection is mentioned here: http://docs.spark.io/connect/#connecting-your-core-connect-over-usb
The part about possible router problems due to mode issues is mentioned here: http://docs.spark.io/troubleshooting/

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@Moors7ā€¦Iā€™ve made the changes to my Router and things are a bit better now with respect to connecting to the Wifi. In your experience, does it normally take 2-3 attempts with the iPhone app to get the core re-established on a different network? This is what I typically see as I travel a fair bit and in my spare time am playing with the core usually over different networks.

Scott

Glad to hear that itā€™s better now!
I too, have indeed experiences times at which I had to try several times before it connected. The Smart Config is using a clever ā€˜hackā€™ to transmit your credentials, and itā€™s possible that things go wrong there. Itā€™s not an ideal scenario, but one which will mostly likely will be fixed with the coming of the Photon.
The Core (CC3000 chip) can store up to 7 different pairs of credentials, so you shouldnā€™t have to reconfigure them every time, unless you factory reset the Core.
I donā€™t know is this will be of much use, but itā€™s worthwhile checking out; Xiaomi makes these tiny WiFi USB sticks, which can be bought cheaply at DX.com for example. You can use these to share your computers internet connection by setting up a local hotspot. This way the Core always sees only one accesspoint, regardless of where you are and what connection youā€™re using. There are also versions with USB data storage, so youā€™ll at least have a USB stick if it doesnā€™t work out.

Since things seem to have been in connection with your WiFi environment, could you please alter your topic title a bit :wink:

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