forum.pistar.uk

I have an AT&T hotspot account accessed by an AT&T Mobley device. It is a hotspot that came from AT&T's mobile division, set for plugging into a GM vehicle data/computer port. With an external PS, I can run it anywhere.

The issue is that after a set period in some unknown number of hours (like overnight) the Pi-Star MMDVM units disconnect from the network....

When this happens I get a wireless AP from the unit that is named "pi-star" different from the initial AP of "pi-star-setup".

I can logon to this AP with my laptop but cannot connect to the Pi-Star unit using web browser "pi-star", I get a "There is no internet connection" error message. If I could login, I would do a "Reboot". Have tried the Remote commands to reboot from the radio with no success.

I hate to do a power removed reboot of the Pi_Star unit but that is the only way to reconnect to this hotspot.

Anyone have a solution?

What is the difference between the two differently named APs?

Thanks,

Duane
N6DMR

This is normal -- if you get the wireless network Pi-Star. this is what is supposed to happen.

A pi-star is an AP (Access Point) which does not have internet by design.

Pi-Star will sometimes NOT work -- try 192.168.50.1

Pi-star setup ONLY happens when you try for the FIRST time -- once it 'knows of even ONE network, it doesn't need to be SETUP so Pi-Star is the same thing.

depending on the device (smart phones /Tablets especially) the name pi-star doesn't work. just use the IP (on a laptop or desktop, the name should work but need to do a [ctrl]+[f5] to force it to find the 'new' connection because the IP is not where it was.

Thanks Kevin, no luck with the IP address.

Do you know how long Pi-Star will poll for a wireless connection before defaulting to the “pi-star” AP?

Regards,

Duane

Pi-Star's Auto AP feature will try to find a known wireless network for two minutes before launching the Access Point. It's important to understand that the Access Point isn't connected to the internet. When you connect to it with your browser, it's a direct wireless connection between your computer and the hotspot's Access Point, but no internet.

The Auto AP Access Point has the name "Pi-Star-Setup" only initially before you have configured Pi-Star. Once you have configured Pi-Star, the Access Point uses the General Configuration Host Name, which is, by default, "pi-star".

One other thing: I have my Pi-Star network configuration set up with my mobile network in the first position and my home network in the second position. If I connect my Pi-Star hotspot to my mobile network and then turn off my mobile network, the next thing that happens is that it looks for and connects to my home network. If my home network is unavailable, it goes into Auto AP Access Point mode. I'm guessing that something is happening to your network connection and that your AT&T connection is unavailable for at least a few minutes. Once Pi-Star loses that primary connection and can't reconnect it within a couple minutes, it will then launch its Auto AP Access Point. Once your Pi-Star hotspot has launched its Auto AP Access Point, the only way to return to regular WiFi is to reboot your hotspot.

Unfortunately, I think there's currently a bug with the Auto AP feature. My recent testing shows it works fine on a fresh install of Pi-Star, but on my three hotspots, once I've done the initial configuration, if the Auto AP Access Point is launched, from my computer I can connect to the Auto AP Access Point enough to enter the Pi-Star Auto AP Access Point password, but am then unable to complete the wireless connection or log in with my browser. This sounds similar to the issue you're having. I've reported this issue in another forum topic: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=638

In case it helps, I've created a PDF illustration showing how Auto AP should work: https://www.toshen.com/ke0fhs/images/Pi ... uto_AP.pdf

Thanks Toshen.

Also, big appreciation of your guides and info, always very helpful.

The AP login also changes names after the first configuration setup on my install. It drops the “setup” from the AP name.

Duane
N6DMR

N6DMR wrote: ↑Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:50 am
The AP login also changes names after the first configuration setup on my install. It drops the “setup” from the AP name.

Duane
N6DMR

By design