I am having major problems connecting to my controller via the web interface. The controller is on v1.0.9, and as you can see in the image attached, the wifi signal is very strong at the controller. I have rebooted the controller multiple times, and I can sometimes connect, but it will randomly disconnect without warning.
I posted yesterday about having issues uploading an NC file to make a cut, but that was a symptom of a bigger issue.
The laptop I’m using to connect to the controller is 4 feet away from the controller.
It doesn’t matter how close the laptop is to the controller (as the laptop releays to the router, then the router to the controller) or the speed of your internet (in fact, you don’t need internet, you could just use a router without internet).
You cannot measure the wifi at the controller with a different device, as the controller has a wifi chip inside a metal box without an antenna.
What does matter is how far the controller is from the router/extender. It must be within 10feet with clear line of site.
As OF stated, distance to the your access point is what matters, not the laptop. There is a way to measure the signal strength within the OF controller, but it is not straight forward. A great feature request would be adding signal strength to the UI so people with connection issues have some insight.
I ended up doing what @Satch did, connecting via cat5, as I started randomly having connection issues after many months without any problems. And my AP is 15 feet from the controller.
10’ and line of sight to a router is a ridiculous requirement for a hobby wood shop tool. You need to add an antenna to your controller to make wifi support a reliable feature.
Unfortunately, it seems like the extender solution isn’t working. I’m now getting the same problem that I did last week. The flat screen shows that I’m connected to my wifi, but I still cannot connect to the web interface. The extender is literally less than a foot away from the controller.
This is the official stance from Onefinity, via email:
If the controller has an IP address, it’s connected to the network. That’s about as far as we can assist with, due to the 100s of thousands of variables in each individual’s personal network configuration. Since you’re the network administrator, it will be up to you at this point to diagnose your network end of things.
I would verify you have a yellow link light on the controller where you plugged in the network cable, possibly try taking the cable out of the controller and plugging it into a laptop to validate the connection is good.
FWIW I’ve had mine connected via a network cable for almost a year now and haven’t had any issues with disconnects.
