Wi-Fi setup

The Shellphone plays a live stream from the internet, so it needs Wi-Fi. This page explains how to connect it, and how to add a new Wi-Fi when you take your shell somewhere else.

Build it first: see the Assembly guide.

Your shell's name

Every Shellphone has its own name: shell-phone- plus a number, for example shell-phone-3. On this page, N stands for your shell's number. So if your shell is shell-phone-3, then shell-phone-N-setup means shell-phone-3-setup.

Don't know the number? Switch the shell on somewhere without a known Wi-Fi. The setup network it creates (see below) shows the name in your phone's Wi-Fi list.

Switching it on

Plug in the power supply. The antennas light up straight away, but the Pi needs about 2 minutes to start, join the Wi-Fi and start playing. Be patient before you decide something is wrong.

If the shell finds a Wi-Fi it already knows, it connects and plays on its own. Nothing else to do.

Adding a new Wi-Fi from your phone

When the shell can't find any Wi-Fi it knows, it creates its own setup network so you can tell it about a new one. No laptop needed.

1. Switch on the shell and wait about 2–3 minutes (start-up, plus about 1 minute of looking for known networks).
2. On your phone, open the Wi-Fi settings and connect to: - Network: shell-phone-N-setup - Password: shellphone
3. A setup page opens by itself. If it doesn't, open http://10.42.0.1/ in your phone's browser.
4. Pick the Wi-Fi you want from the list (or type its name if it's missing), enter its password, and save.
5. The shell switches over to that Wi-Fi. This switches off the setup network, so your phone gets disconnected and the page can't show a "success" message. That's normal.

Did it work?

• Yes, if the shell starts playing after a minute or two.
• No, if shell-phone-N-setup appears again after a couple of minutes. The password was probably wrong. Connect again and retype it.

The shell remembers the new Wi-Fi permanently, also after switching it off.

Why does http://10.42.0.1/ stop working later? That address only exists inside the setup network. As soon as the shell is connected to a normal Wi-Fi, the setup network switches off, and 10.42.0.1 disappears with it. This is on purpose: the setup network is only a fallback for when the shell is lost. To get it back, take the shell somewhere without a known Wi-Fi (or switch that Wi-Fi off) and wait.

If that doesn't work: use your phone's hotspot

Always try adding your own Wi-Fi first (above). If that doesn't work, for example because the venue only has 5 GHz or a login-page Wi-Fi, let the shell use your phone's internet instead. Every pre-flashed card already knows a Wi-Fi called shellphone-kit, so:

1. In your phone's hotspot / tethering settings, set: - Network name: shellphone-kit - Password: stay-salty - Band: 2.4 GHz, if your phone asks
2. Turn the hotspot on, then switch on the shell. It connects by itself (about 2 minutes).

Once it's connected, the phone can also open the shell's Wi-Fi setup page (http://shell-phone-N.local/, or the address from the hotspot's list of connected devices, see below) and add another Wi-Fi from there. Keep in mind that the stream uses your phone's mobile data while it plays.

Alternative: edit the SD card before you travel

If you already know the Wi-Fi of the place you're going to:

1. Switch off the shell and take out the SD card.
2. Put the card into a computer. A drive called bootfs appears.
3. Open the file shell.conf in a text editor (Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac).
4. Add a block like this at the end, with the exact network name and password:

ini [wifi "Name Of The Wi-Fi"] password = the-wifi-password

The name must match exactly, including capital letters and spaces. 5. Save, eject the card safely, and put it back into the shell.

The shell reads this file every time it starts.

Volume and control page

When the shell is connected, it has a small control page for volume, mute, which stream it plays, and switching it off safely. Your phone (or laptop) must be on the same Wi-Fi as the shell. Then open:

The control page shows the shell's name at the top.

If the .local address doesn't open:

• This is common on Android phones, and on computers with a VPN switched on (a VPN can hide the devices on your local network). Pause the VPN, or use the shell's number address instead (next point).
• Find the shell's address in your hotspot's list of connected devices (or the router's), where it shows up as shell-phone-N. Then open, for example, http://192.168.1.57:8080/ with that address.

Good to know

• 2.4 GHz only. The shell can't see 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks. Most routers offer both; if the venue only has 5 GHz, use your phone's hotspot.
• The Wi-Fi needs a password. Open networks, and networks with a login page in the browser (hotels, cafés, trains), don't work.
• No university or company Wi-Fi that asks for a username and password (like eduroam).
• Passwords are stored in plain text on the SD card (shell.conf). Anyone holding the card can read them.
• Several shells in one place? Each one has its own setup network and its own shell.conf, so add the Wi-Fi to each shell.

Quick troubleshooting