RTK Reference Station WiFi

GPS/GNSS
1

Hello,

As the title says, I’ve been having some issues getting my RTK Reference Station to connect to the WiFi. I’m currently running reference station firmware v4.1 and ZED-F9P firmware HPG 1.32. Having my reference station hooked up to my computer and putty via the ESP32 config port, I can see that the device tries to connect to a wifi, however it seems to finish with “No friendly WiFi networks detected.” I’ve tried several different networks to see if that was the issue, most of which supported 2.4 and 5GHz, but no differences were observed. Per previous threads here, I’ve removed the SD Card from the device, and turned off bluetooth to see if it may be a RAM issue. I have two networks currently configured in the settings, one his my home wifi and the other a phone hotspot, but the device won’t connect to either.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

2

Hey iRowBoats,

Very strange behavior; the first thought that popped into my head was whether the AP was running 5GHz, but you already addressed that.

Possible causes:

  • Loose antenna / wrong SMA port
  • Broken antenna
  • Broken RF path
  • Incorrect SSID (weird characters in SSID?)
  • Firmware corruption / settings issues
  • Firmware bug

Loose antenna
I’m sure you’ve already done this, but as a possible quick-fix, please double check that the 2.4GHz wifi/bluetooth antenna is fully screwed into the SMA connector labeled “ESP32”.

Broken Antenna / RF Path
I just tested, and even without an antenna, I can connect over bluetooth and receive NMEA messages reliably if I’m within about 10-15 feet of the Ref Station. More than 20 feet or so, and I cannot connect.
Can you test:

  • Install 2.4GHz antenna on ESP32 SMA port
  • Move ~30 feet away from Ref Station
  • Attempt to connect over bluetooth

If you can connect and receive NMEA messages reliably, that confirms that the 2.4GHz RF path is intact, rules out 99% of device hardware issues; there’s always a chance that something internally wrong with the ESP32, but I’ve never seen or heard of an ESP that has broken wifi and functional bluetooth at the IC level.

Incorrect SSID / Firmware / Settings issue

  • Upgrade firmware to newest release
  • Perform factory reset
  • Use phone 2.4GHz hotspot with very simple SSID / Password
  • Enter SSID, attempt to connect

This troubleshooting step will rule out a lot of possible issues due to AP settings and other networking issues.

Please try these three troubleshooting steps and let us know how it goes!