Auto Connect Issue

Update: 16 November 2014 – Current

The hardware vendor released a specific firmware for TetherBox v2, this firmware is addressing the AutoConnect limitation for dynamic WiFi channels, however, during our test we discovered the following two issues:

1. WiFi Chip doesn’t connect into mobile hotspot (such as iPhone hotspot), unless MAC address is not specified at the connection page.
2. The new firmware changes to the appropriate wireless channel, but in some instances it doesn’t attempt to connect to it… again manual intervention is required.

On 21st of November we communicated the above two issues to the vendor and we’re still awaiting their response.

If you want to try the new firmware (at your own risk) you can download the file from here: https://autofidelity.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TetherBox_en_20141112-upgrade.zip

Your patience is appreciated!

 

Update: 16 October 2014 – Old

The hardware vendor responded and advised that a new firmware will be released mid November 2014 that will permanently fix this issue.

 

 

 

Update: 5 October 2014 – OLD

 

Purpose of this page: I have created this post to elaborate on a limitation with TetherBox v2’s wireless module when used in WISP\Client mode.

 

Technical root cause: When you configure the connection between TetherBox v2 and your Hotspot device (i.e. your Mobile phone), TetherBox v2 remembers the wireless channel on the Hotspot device, and tries to connect only to that channel. The “Auto Frequency” doesn’t seem to be working well.

 

Impacted Users: The problem is that many mobile phones have their wireless channel set to RA (Random Select) or Auto, which means when you flick the switch to enable Tethering on your mobile it will randomly select a channel number between 1 and 11. If your mobile chooses a channel number different from what was configured during TetherBox v2’s initial setup then TetherBox v2 will fail to connect into your Mobile.

 

Our synopsis: iPhone 3/4/4s seem to favour channel 6 first, then 11 and finally 1. iPhone 5/5s/6 seem to favour channel 11 first, then 1, then 13… However Samsung is completely random and unpredictable.

 

Trigger for channel change: If your mobile phone thinks there is a Radio signal conflict from a nearby wireless device (in this case is TetherBox v2), it will switch the wireless channel to avoid radio congestion. When this happens the connection between TetherBox v2 and Mobile will definitely fail.

 

Workaround:

  1. Identify what radio channel your phone favours – download http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wirelessnetview.zip
  2. browse to 172.16.251.1 setup page, Click “Advanced”, Go to “Wireless” tab, Click “Basic”
  3. Change Frequency to the channel identified in step 1.

 

Permanent Solution: I have requested a solution from the chip manufacture, the moment a new firmware is released I will make sure it’s published on this site along with step-by-step instructions.