Cannot connect to some wi-fi networks

Hi,

I’ve experienced some wierd problems trying to connect the IMP to some wi-fi networks. I don’t know the specifications of these wi-fi networks but I successfully connected several IMPs to these in the past (last week). This makes me think that some OS upgrade broke the wi-fi configurations.

When I blinkup the IMP, it flashes the green light and immediately changes to blinking red. It keeps blinking red for about one minute and then shuts down.
This is kind of problematic because I have some IMPs installed on real clients validating an idea (some of them aren’t working anymore because of this problem).

Have anyone experienced something similar to this?

It sounds like your imp is successfully receiving the configuration, but then cannot connect to your network. It will stop trying by default after 60 seconds.

Double check your SSID and password, and if you are using a US/Canadian version of the Imp and are in a region that supports more channels than 1-11, you’ll need to change that on your router.

I’m in Europe. Will that be a problem?

Thanks @MakeDeck

Could be. In the US and Canada, we are limited to using WiFi channels 1-11. In Europe and other regions you have access to more channels (13, I think). If your router is using something other than channels 1-11, and you have a US/Canadian imp, it won’t be able to connect. You can manually set your wireless router to use a different channel. Many are set to automatically pick the best channel.

So it would be safer to buy “European IMPs”, right? How can I assure that I’m buying one or another version of the IMP?

All of the development boards that MakeDeck sells have the US/Canadian version of the Electric Imp module, and I would guess that many of the others that are available are the same, but you would have to get that information from the vendor.

It is unfortunate that the standard isn’t global, but it isn’t hard to change the configuration of your wireless network. I can help you check/change the configuration if you know what the make and model of your wireless router is.

Thanks @MakeDeck. I know how to change the configuration of the wireless network, but the problem is that I want to install an IMP in a place where I do not have access to the wireless network configuration.

Got it. I would confirm what channel that wireless network is using, if you can. If it is a network with multiple access points, it might use several. Many wireless utility programs on Windows will show you what channel is being used.

Digikey sell imp002’s in both US and EU versions. If you have a favourite EU reseller then get them to contact us and they can stock EU imp001 cards!

Mouser would be nice. Much better service then Digikey (in Europe) with respect to customs handling and generally better priced (lower markup then digikey).

@vedecoid did you try to get impoo1’s from Mouser?

Mouser doesn’t carry them, at least not yet. If there is a strong enough demand during the next manufacturing run, I might be able to get some of the MakeDeck dev boards built with EU imps. I think we have shipped to 10 countries outside the US so far, so that seems reasonably likely.