Wi-Fi Remote Terminal

This example demonstrates how to setup WiConnect to enable remote access to your module or evaluation board using telnet via the Wi-Fi interface. The example shows how to use the Wi-Fi softAP interface, but it is also possible to connect remotely using telnet via the Wi-Fi client interface.

Features demonstrated

• Soft AP
• Remote Terminal

Once your evaluation board and WiConnect is configured to enable the Soft AP and Remote Terminal feature, there is no longer any need to use a serial connection to control the board. The board can instead be controlled directly by Connecting the Remote Terminal.

Setting up the Soft AP and Remote Terminal

The example is based on an ACKme Mackerel board, but the process is generic for any ACKme evaluation board with a serial interface and an ACKme module running WiConnect.

Connect a computer to the evaluation board USB connector. Use your terminal program to make a serial connection to the board (see Getting Started).

View the Default State of the Soft AP and Remote Terminal Variables

This step is for information only. It is NOT necessary to list the variables before you change them.

In the serial terminal console use the get softap and get remote_terminal command to display the current state of the softap and remote_terminal variables. In the default state the variables are as shown below:

> get softap
softap.auto_start: 0
softap.channel: 0
softap.dhcp_server: 1
softap.dns_server: 1
softap.idle_timeout: 7
softap.ip: 10.10.10.1
softap.passkey:
softap.rate.protocol: auto
softap.rate.transmit: auto
softap.ssid: WiConnect-#
softap.url: wiconnect,wiconnect.com,www.wiconnect.com

> get remote_terminal
remote_terminal.enabled: 0
remote_terminal.interface: default
remote_terminal.password:
remote_terminal.port: 2000
remote_terminal.timeout: 60

If the variables do not display as shown, you may wish to perform a factory reset to return them to the default state (see Factory Reset).

Change the Soft AP and Remote Terminal Variables

Setting up the soft Access Point (softap) and remote terminal, from the default state, requires just a few commands:

set softap.auto_start 1
set remote_terminal.enabled 1
set remote_terminal.interface softap

save

reboot

 <- Start softap automatically on boot
 <- Enable the remote terminal 
 <- Set the remote terminal to interface 
    via the soft AP
 <- Save the state of the 
    WiConnect variables to flash memory 
 <- Reboot the device

You can reboot the board using the reboot command, by pressing the reset button, or by power cycling.

After reboot, WiConnect displays a message similar to the following:

> IPv4 address: 10.10.10.1
SoftAP 'WiConnect-098' started
Remote terminal listening on port: 2000
[Ready]

View the Changed State of the Soft AP and Remote Terminal Variables

This step is for information only. It is NOT necessary to list the variables after you change them.

After reboot, in the serial terminal, check the state of all softap and remote_terminal variables.

> get softap
softap.auto_start: 1
softap.channel: 1
softap.dhcp_server: 1
softap.dns_server: 1
softap.idle_timeout: 7
softap.ip: 10.10.10.1
softap.passkey:
softap.rate.protocol: auto
softap.rate.transmit: auto
softap.ssid: WiConnect-#
softap.url: wiconnect,wiconnect.com,www.wiconnect.com

> get remote_terminal
remote_terminal.enabled: 1
remote_terminal.interface: softap
remote_terminal.password:
remote_terminal.port: 2000
remote_terminal.timeout: 60

Connecting the Remote Terminal

On the computer running the remote terminal, connect to the Soft AP. The softap SSID is determined by the softap.ssid variable. The default value of WiConnect-# means WiConnect-, followed by the last 3 digits of the device WLAN MAC address, e.g. WiConnect-098. The passkey is determined by the softap.passkey variable. The default is empty i.e. no passkey.

In your communication terminal program (e.g. Teraterm) create a new TCP/IP telnet connection with the Host determined by the softap.ip or softap.url and the Port determined by remote_terminal.port:

The terminal program should now complete the telnet connection to the eval board.

Note that the softap runs a DNS server by default. Softap urls are determined by the variable softap.url. For example, you can connect the remote terminal to wiconnect.com:2000, or set a softap.url and remote_terminal.port as desired.

Before typing commands, ensure that local echo is turned on. For example, in Teraterm, select the checkbox in the menu Setup | Terminal | Local echo.

The remote terminal provides full access to all WiConnect commands, exactly as if you were connected via a serial interface. When a telnet client is connected to the remote terminal via Wi-Fi, the serial interface is disabled.

If required, and to add security, a remote terminal password can be added by configuring the remote_terminal.password variable.

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