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SOMA Connect (Raspberry Pi)

  • Updated

Configuring Wi-Fi

  • Unplug SOMA Connect power adapter
  • Remove ethernet cable if there are any
  • Plug in SOMA Connect power adapter
  • Red and green indicator lights start blinking
  • Wait for the SOMA Connect to start
    • It has successfully started
      • Once the green LED is on and not blinking (software version 2.3.0 and earlier)
      • Once only the red LED is blinking at a 0.5 or 2 second interval (software version 2.3.1 and later)
    • It may take anywhere between 30 sec to 1 minute for the SOMA Connect to start depending on how many SOMA Smart Shades / SOMA Tilt devices you have and how good is the signal between them
  • The status LED behavior will change once the Wi-Fi access has been configured
  • Place the phone next to the SOMA Connect
  • Open Smart Shades app > Left Hand Menu > SOMA Connect > Raspberry Pi
  • Wait until the list of available Wi-Fi networks is populated
  • Select the Wi-Fi network to connect to
    • In case HomeKit is going to be used then the Wi-Fi network has to be the same where HomePod/AppleTV is connected to
  • Enter the password for the selected Wi-Fi access point
  • Wait until configuring is complete
  • Once a successful connection to the network is established
    • The red LED stops blinking and is turned on (software version 2.3.0 and earlier)
    • The red LED will start blinking at a 2 second interval (software version 2.3.1 and later)
  • Wi-Fi has to be configured just once, no need to do it on multiple phones/tablets

Using Ethernet Cable

  • Unplug SOMA Connect power adapter
  • Plug in the ethernet cable
  • Plug in SOMA Connect power adapter
  • Red and green indicator lights start blinking
  • Wait for the SOMA Connect to start
    • It has successfully started
      • Once the green LED is on and not blinking (software version 2.3.0 and earlier)
      • Once only the red LED is blinking at a 0.5 or 2 second interval (software version 2.3.1 and later)
    • It may take anywhere between 30 sec to 1 minute for the SOMA Connect to start depending on how many SOMA Smart Shades / SOMA Tilt devices you have and how good is the signal between them
  • Once a successful connection to the network is established
    • The red LED stops blinking and is turned on (software version 2.3.0 and earlier)
    • The red LED will start blinking at a 2 second interval (software version 2.3.1 and later)

Troubleshooting

In case there is any trouble setting up Wi-Fi access then you may try to use command line tools provided by Raspbian to configure the connection. More information about how to access the SOMA Connect is provided here and information about the command line tools is available here. 

Wi-Fi Channels 12 and 13

USA restricts 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi to eleven channels, channels 12 through 14 are available elsewhere in the world (see https://www.howtogeek.com/402142/why-wi-fi-channels-12-13-and-14-are-illegal-in-the-usa).

If you still need to use those channels then you can enable them by configuring the SOMA Connect to use a different country for Wi-Fi:

  • Use this guide to open terminal on SOMA Connect
  • You can list currently available channels by executing the following command
sudo iwlist wlan0 channel
  • Execute the following command to change the Wi-Fi country setting
sudo raspi-config
  • Select 4 Localisation Options from the menu
  • Select I4 Change Wi-Fi Country
  • Select country where channels 12-13 are allowed, e.g. GB Britain (UK)
  • Confirm that channel 13 is enabled by executing again the following command
sudo iwlist wlan0 channel
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