Alternative to wifi module

[oftheangels]

I am still struggling with the wifi module for the reef angel. To be clear I am 100% certain that the issue I am facing is caused by my internet router (verizon) and not the module itself. More accurately the two appear to be incompatible. I find this odd as 802.11 is a widely accepted standard but that is a topic for another day.

The wifi module connects and communicates with my cable modem fine for a 'short' period of time. After the linkmon timeout I get an error message of LOST-AP or AP-LOST (I'm at work and can't remember). Once this happens the wireless interface is changed from UP to DOWN (even though my join is set to 1). The only way to recover is to unplug and plug the module back in. This behavior is the same on firmware 4.4.1 and 4.4.75.

For what it's worth. I have the module configured with a static ip and dhcp turned off. I have brought the module into my office with a linksys router and it works fine with the same exact configuration (except obviously I need to change the ip and gateway)... Anyway this is all for background...

All of this got me thinking. Could I do something like this: http://subethasoftware.com/2013/04/12/a ... o-on-wifi/ instead of using the module? It would seem to me that it 'should' work but I am no expert with the arduino so thought I would ask.

I truly appreciate the support of the ReefAngel team and have no interest in anything other than getting my ReefAngel onto the wifi network (one of the main reasons I bought it). I even bought a second wifi module (I bricked my first messing with firmware and settings).

Any advice is always appreciated.

-Leo

[rimai]

You would still need a way to get ethernet on RA, which isn't available.
Have you tried a different wifi access point?

[oftheangels]

I was thinking I could load OpenWRT on the TP-Link and plug the TP-Link into the usb expansion and communicate with the network that way? Is that a possibility? I realize I am getting into uncharted territory here.

I'm struggling with trying a different access point. The way the verizon access point is setup is that the access point plugs in to the coax cable. The access point has both wired and wireless support. If I turn off the wireless on the verizon access point and plug my airport into the ethernet port on the verizon access point the same thing happens. (AP-LOST error). I'm not sure if I can take the verizon access point out and put something in it's place because of the coax interface. Any advice here?

-LeoD

[rimai]

The USB port on RA is not really a USB. It's the expansion port and doesn't have the USB protocol. So, I don't think this would work.
So, even with airport it still looses the connection, huh?
Is it really far from the router?
The module cannot also run on 5GHz. It can only use 2.4GHz.
Can you also try WPA2-PSK with AES encryption instead of mixed WPA?

[oftheangels]

Thanks for the response,

I actually was wondering if the expansion was really a USB (that clear's that up).

My RA is about 15 feet from the access point. When I have it connected to my laptop I have literally put it 6 inches from the access point. Other than some type of interference I can't figure out what the problem could be... If I set the linkmon to like 256 it stays connected for a while but eventually drops... If I set linkmon to 5 it drops after a few minutes...

I am fairly certain I have tried WPA2-PSK (AES) but I will try that when I get home... I'm actually wondering if it's related to the 5GHz vs 2.4GHz incompatibility...

-LeoD

[oftheangels]

Hmmm.... I'm a bit confused about the encryption settings.

When I do this:

set wlan auth 4

and then get wlan here is the response:

SSID=2C49K
Chan=0
ExtAnt=0
Join=1
Auth=MIXED
Mask=0x1fff
Rate=12, 24 Mb
Linkmon=30
Passphrase=#####
EAP_Id=userid
EAP_User=peap-user

Why does auth still say MIXED?

-LeoD

[oftheangels]

Oh boy... I never even checked this... Is it possible the documentation is wrong? When I do 'set wlan auth 2' I get:

SSID=2C49K
Chan=0
ExtAnt=0
Join=1
Auth=WPA2
Mask=0x1fff
Rate=12, 24 Mb
Linkmon=30
Passphrase=#####
EAP_Id=userid
EAP_User=peap-user

[oftheangels]

Still no joy!

Here is the result of 'get everything' Is there anything obvious that's wrong with the setup?

get everything

wifly-GSX Ver: 4.41 Build: r1057, Jan 17 2014 10:26:29 on RN-131
SSID=WiFly-GSX-a4
Pass=
Linkmon=3600
Beacon=102
Reboot=0
IF=UP
DHCP=OFF
IP=192.168.1.201:2000
NM=255.255.255.0
GW=192.168.1.1
HOST=198.171.134.6:80
PROTO=TCP,
MTU=1524
FLAGS=0x6
TCPMODE=0x4
BACKUP=0.0.0.0
OPEN=
CLOSE=
REMOTE=
FlushSize=1420
MatchChar=0
FlushTimer=5
IdleTimer=3
CmdChar=$
DNS=0.0.0.0
Name=www.reefangel.com
Backup=rn.microchip.com
Lease=86400
FTP=198.175.253.161:21
File=wifly-GSX.img
User=roving
Pass=Pass123
Dir=public
Timeout=200
FTP_mode=0x0
SSID=2C49K
Chan=0
ExtAnt=0
Join=1
Auth=WPA2
Mask=0x1fff
Rate=12, 24 Mb
Linkmon=5
Passphrase=****
EAP_Id=userid
EAP_User=peap-user
SleepTmr=0
WakeTmr=0
Trigger=0x10
Autoconn=5
IoFunc=0x0
IoMask=0x20f0
IoValu=0x0
DebugReg=0x0
PrintLvl=0x2
LaunchStr=web_app
TimeEna=0
TIMEADR=64.90.182.55:123
Zone=7
Baudrate=57600
Flow=0x0
Mode=0x2
Cmd_GPIO=0
JoinTmr=1000
Replace=0x24
DeviceId=ReefAngelWifi
Password=
Format=0x0
Signal=0
Average=5
BCAST=255.255.255.255:55555
Interval=0x7
Backup=0.0.0.0:0
Sensor=0x0
SensePwr=0x0
<4.41>