I have just spent the last 24 hours trying to work out what is required in order to reset the (datalogging?) Wifi Dongle to match my new home network. I managed to do it but I am not entirely sure how.
Along the way, I spent time browsing posts on this forum. Whilst helpful, they did not get me all way. And I still have some outstanding questions as to what is going on and why.
I compiled the following for three main reasons:
1) It might help someone else who washes up here, data-less and confused
2) I am hoping someone might be able to address my outstanding questions
3) If there is a "sticky post" feature on this forum, it might form the basis of a sticky post - so that others can find the information with less searching and reading required.
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Wireless access to the Dongle
Context
When "receptive", the Wifi dongle offers a "wifi hotspot" interface to the world. No App is required to access this hotspot if it is broadcasting.
While the hotspot is available, the dongle runs a limited DHCP server and offers a browser interface . These operate over a wireless network (Wifi SSID) that is unique to the dongle (even though the address offered by the DHCP server might be confusing - both to humans and to other devices we are using).
The Wifi SSID is of the form W-xxxxxxxx (where "xxxxxxxx" contains alphanumeric characters, but is not the MAC address of the wireless interface of the dongle).
I (still) have no idea how to put the dongle into the receptive state. Receptive state means that the dongle is broadcasting a Wifi SSID of the form W-xxxxxxxx
Connecting to a receptive dongle
Connect to the dongle's hotspot via the SSID.
If re-connecting, this does not have to be done through an app on a phone or tablet. Anything with a browser that can connect to the SSID will work. I did it using a laptop - for reasons I will expand on shortly.
Connecting to an un-configured (new/replacement) dongle might or might not require an app. Can someone clarify please?
Open a browser window and enter the IP address 192.168.1.1.
This is the home page of the browser based interface for the dongle. Confusingly it is also the home page of the web configuration system for many Internet Gateway/Router devices as provided by Internet Service Providers
The home page should allow you to choose (from a drop down list) any local SSIDs that the dongle judges to offer a strong enough signal.
Choose your SSID and enter the security key that enables users to access your wireless network/Internet service.
The web page should refresh and hang (because you can no longer connect to it). The dongle is a simple device. It only has one radio. It needs to use that radio to talk to the home SSID and thence to the Internet. If that happens there is a good chance that your dongle (and therefore your inverter) is talking to the Internet.
Confirming success
Success can be established in several ways. I looked at the leases assigned by my Internet Gateway/Router. It had provided an address to a device with the hostname LWIP at the time that I had set the security key to my SSID and pressed enter.
I also went to the Fox Cloud App that I had installed but had not provided me with any tools to enage with the dongle. Before the hostname LWIP appeared in my DHCP leases, the app told me that I had one site offline (my only site). After the hostname LWIP appeared in my DHCP leases, the app told me that I had one site online.
Troubleshooting advice and/or questions
1) I cannot find an SSID that begins W-xxxxxxxx
Reset the dongle to the receptive state - but how?
Have the device that you are using to connect as close to the dongle as practically possible.
What conditions cause the dongle to revert to being an accessible Wifi hotspot? Does it switch to offering the hotspot if there has not been any traffic for a defined period of time? Or is there some magic algorithm that works out that I want to connect to it to change the settings for my wireless network? Can I press some buttons on my Inverter to make the dongle receptive? Can I make the dongle receptive without having to climb into my loft?
What makes me ask is that I disconnected from the dongle in November (accidentally, as a result of a network upgrade at home that changed my SSID). Because it was a network upgrade, for most of December and some of January I was looking at other devices on the network and nearby SSIDs . I do not recall seeing the dongle's SSID then or at any time yesterday, when I was actively looking for it. But it appeared this morning - without any prompts at all. Was I simply lucky?
2) I cannot connect to the browser page that will allow me to configure the dongle to my home wireless network
Use a laptop or PC that enables you to fully control the network connections to that laptop or PC. Alternatively, force your device to forget your "home" network SSID - so that it does not/cannot connect to it under any circumstance (this is sometimes known as deleting that network connection) and then try to connect to the dongle's SSID.
Many devices seem to want to double guess the user and impose a wireless connection with internet access, rather than one without. Every time that I used my phone to connect to the SSID of the dongle and then tried to browse to the web config page indicated in the leaflets, I ended up connecting to the web config page for my router (which shares the same IP address - something of a standard amongst IP address ranges). After some cursing, I worked out what was happening. Somewhere in the "intelligence" (I use the word loosely) of the device are some rules that say "if you are connected to a network that does not have access to the Internet and you have access to a different network that does have Internet access, when the user opens a browser disconnect from the network that does not have access to the Internet and connect to the network that does have Internet access. No need to bother asking the user. They exist to feed our data mining operations and will probably be grateful to be reconnected to their social media feeds." (Italics are my assumption.) It may be that there are settings to change this behaviour, but - life is too short.
3) My Inverter App doesn't help me. Should I be using a different one?
It is not necessary to use an App - provided that the dongle is in its receptive state. Configuration of the dongle to use the home wireless network (SSID) is done via a web browser. A web browser is a different app to FoxCloud, etc. Examples are Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari.
When it comes to which app to use there appears to be a number of on offer. The leaflet from Wholesale Green Renewables (linked to from at least one post on this forum) leads to an app called Power View. It requires registration but I could not find any guarantee that it would work with my inverter. The leaflet from FoxESS support (also linked to from this forum and appearing high on search results on the Internet) leads to the FoxESS app but distributed via Huawei App Gallery. And there is also the FoxCloud app on the Google Play store. The last is probably the same as on the Huawei Gallery but Huawei Gallery will require different registration detailsto Google Play. I would welcome clarification of what is going on here and what the pros and cons are of any options?
I went for the Google Play Store version. I have never used that before as my previous phone (the one that the installer had me set up with an App) was IOS. Although it installed and recognised my account (showed me the history - which was as I remember). It did not offer me any tools in the "Me" section of the App. As a result, I do not have any way to converse with the dongle. Has anyone got any idea why that might be?
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