Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing

dc42

The internal antenna on the ESP12S is very short, much smaller than the wifi antenna in a smartphone. So unsurprisingly, it doesn't perform as well. For best wifi signal strength, mount the board vertically so that the antenna is vertical. Keep the antenna clear of metal parts of the printer structure. For situations in which these conditions can't be met, or where the WiFi signal strength is weak, use the external antenna version.

In situations where the Duet reports poor signal strength or connectivity is intermittent, changing the WiFi router channel sometimes has a substantial effect.

@Dz, thank you for drawing my attention to the ESP8266 vulnerabilities that were disclosed last September. According to Hackaday, two of them only apply to enterprise networks using EAP authentication, which the Duet doesn't support. The third requires the Duet to connect to a fake access point, which a Duet wouldn't try to connect to anyway, because it only connects to APs for which you have provided the SSID and password. So someone would have to impersonate the AP that you had programmed the Duet to use, with a stronger signal strength. It sounds that the investigators only managed to crash the ESP8266, not take it over. So I think the risk is low. Nevertheless, we'll update the SDK when Expressiv has fixed this.

Dz

@dc42 I think the crashing is due to the poor handshake manners in the ESP modules, and the vulnerabilities simply take advantage of this behavior. I'm certain this is my issues as well as @ElmoC and @joe92 after reading their threads.

@bearer Output is below. I am not sure how much faith I have in it because re-connections arent logged (listed as zero when I have been force re-connected a dozen times in the last hour), and failed messages show zero when i have them shown in the console.

M122
=== Diagnostics ===
RepRapFirmware for Duet 2 WiFi/Ethernet version 3.0 running on Duet WiFi 1.02 or later
Board ID: 08DGM-917NK-F2MS4-7JKDA-3SD6T-THT4D
Used output buffers: 4 of 24 (11 max)
=== RTOS ===
Static ram: 30516
Dynamic ram: 91848 of which 32 recycled
Exception stack ram used: 560
Never used ram: 8116
Tasks: NETWORK(ready,640) HEAT(blocked,1240) MAIN(running,3668) IDLE(ready,156)
Owned mutexes:
=== Platform ===
Last reset 16:09:17 ago, cause: power up
Last software reset at 2020-01-30 22:29, reason: User, spinning module GCodes, available RAM 8196 bytes (slot 3)
Software reset code 0x0003 HFSR 0x00000000 CFSR 0x00000000 ICSR 0x0041f000 BFAR 0xe000ed38 SP 0xffffffff Task 0x4e49414d
Error status: 0
Free file entries: 9
SD card 0 detected, interface speed: 20.0MBytes/sec
SD card longest block write time: 189.1ms, max retries 0
MCU temperature: min 27.3, current 38.0, max 40.1
Supply voltage: min 24.0, current 24.2, max 24.4, under voltage events: 0, over voltage events: 0, power good: yes
Driver 0: standstill, SG min/max 0/1023
Driver 1: standstill, SG min/max 0/1023
Driver 2: standstill, SG min/max 80/426
Driver 3: standstill, SG min/max 0/86
Driver 4: standstill, SG min/max not available
Date/time: 2020-02-02 15:58:54
Cache data hit count 4294967295
Slowest loop: 74.46ms; fastest: 0.09ms
I2C nak errors 0, send timeouts 0, receive timeouts 0, finishTimeouts 0, resets 0
=== Move ===
Hiccups: 0(0), FreeDm: 169, MinFreeDm: 109, MaxWait: 1614086ms
Bed compensation in use: none, comp offset 0.000
=== MainDDARing ===
Scheduled moves: 6, completed moves: 6, StepErrors: 0, LaErrors: 0, Underruns: 0, 0
=== AuxDDARing ===
Scheduled moves: 0, completed moves: 0, StepErrors: 0, LaErrors: 0, Underruns: 0, 0
=== Heat ===
Bed heaters = 0 -1 -1 -1, chamberHeaters = -1 -1 -1 -1
Heater 0 is on, I-accum = 0.1
Heater 1 is on, I-accum = 0.7
=== GCodes ===
Segments left: 0
Stack records: 2 allocated, 0 in use
Movement lock held by null
http is idle in state(s) 0
telnet is idle in state(s) 0
file is idle in state(s) 0
serial is idle in state(s) 0
aux is idle in state(s) 0
daemon is idle in state(s) 0
queue is idle in state(s) 0
autopause is idle in state(s) 0
Code queue is empty.
=== Network ===
Slowest loop: 189.93ms; fastest: 0.00ms
Responder states: HTTP(3) HTTP(0) HTTP(0) HTTP(0) FTP(0) Telnet(0)
HTTP sessions: 1 of 8

WiFi -
Network state is running
WiFi module is connected to access point
Failed messages: pending 0, notready 0, noresp 0
WiFi firmware version 1.23
WiFi MAC address 60:01:94:2e:a9:1f
WiFi Vcc 3.36, reset reason Turned on by main processor
WiFi flash size 4194304, free heap 22144
WiFi IP address 192.168.50.71
WiFi signal strength -52dBm, reconnections 0, sleep mode modem
Socket states: 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A Former User

@Dz said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

@bearer Output is below. I am not sure how much faith I have in it

thats hardly the point is it; but it is a quantitative report for dc42 and the other devs to evaluate the issue.

Dz

@bearer said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

@Dz said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

@bearer Output is below. I am not sure how much faith I have in it

thats hardly the point is it; but it is a quantitative report for dc42 and the other devs to evaluate the issue

WTF is your problem dude, seriously. I'm saying the report has proven false negatives in it.

Let me dumb it down: If my car stalls five times in a day and the mechanic produces a diagnostics report that lists '0 stalls past 30 days' then I would have a problem with all data in the report given that one metric is known false. That's the point.

A Former User

@Dz said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

WTF is your problem dude, seriously. I'm saying the report has proven false negatives in it.

and just maybe that is relevant to those evaluating if there is a problem...

Phaedrux

Let's keep it cordial please.

TLAS

FYI, I’ve had a lot of trouble with the WiFi cards as well - I switched to an Ethernet with a wifi repeater and it’s super solid now.

In my setup, the cards are near a lot of metal (can’t be avoided). I have found that the interference tends to overheat the WiFi module (it gets so hot it you can’t touch it). I put a fan on it and started getting much better performance, although still not great By industry standards. Duet 3 with Pi is great though.

yngndrw

@TLAS I wonder if the Wifi module has changed between different versions of the Duet2 Wifi.

I have v1.03 of the Duet2 Wifi and my Wifi module is only very slightly warm - The connection has also been rock solid for me, even with lots of metal nearby and the AP being located through both a wall and a ceiling.

TLAS

@yngndrw
Is your WiFi card near (or enclosed by) a lot of metal? Seems to have been the kicker for me. I have an older WiFi on a machine right next to the router and in a typical Rostock setup with a fan. Works OK, I get a dropout about once a month though. Same card that experienced the overheating so I’m not sure it’s a good standard to judge by.

yngndrw

@TLAS It's surrounded by aluminium extrusion (It's a Core XY machine with the board mounted at the back) and the printer is sitting on top of a metal box, but it isn't fully enclosed. I guess the environment / background noise might also have its part to play.

zapta

@Joel said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

I replaced the module with an ESP-07S which has an external antenna connection. No issues since doing that.

Did you need to do any firmware update or just a hardware swap and the duet takes care of the rest?

Also, what gcode upload speed to you get from the duet web UI?

A Former User

@zapta said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

Did you need to do any firmware update

need to flash the new module, but this is done like any other wifi firmware update (except it can't be done from DWC, you'll need serial console, PanelDue or a prepared trigger)

hayseed_byte

Just wanted to add that I have seven Duet 2 Wifi's in operation at the moment on printers that run almost 24/7 and have never had connectivity issues. All worked fine even when I was using the crappy router from my ISP and they all work fine with the Ubiquity set up I have now.

weed2all

@Dz I have 4 duet2wifi 1.0.4 boards and never had any issues with wifi..I have them running over a year now...and no issues at all! Nevertheless to say that maybe one board is not performing 100% out of 1000 boards doesn't mean that the duet boards are not ok...

arhi

I made tonn of devices with integrated ESP8266 module and I can say

most of the ones with external antenna don't have connectivity issues
~10% of "closed" modules have some type of hardware issues, in some of the cases it can be solved by baking the module, but mostly they are throwables
firmware is unsecure, as already mentioned
biggest issue is dev tools / SDK, if you build in your own app into the module it can come into many "undesired" states due to bugs in firmware and sdk. Happened more than once that valid app just never get control back from the wifi blob due to bug there

None of these issues I have seen, should affect duet2wifi, except maybe the antenna part, but I went myself with ethernet version 'cause I'd never run a "serious machine" with esp8266. I, for example, have 2 teartime printers with esp8266 and they don't work most of the time. IMHO ESP8266 is ok for sensors and stuff that you don't care too much if stop working, but not as main connectivity option for a device you want to use. ESP32 so far looks much better but my experience is limited (made under 20 devices so far and while they never had any issues it's still early to say).

@Dz what I dont get is after "has 20+ years in enterprise systems and datacenters" you went with wifi option for printer??? irrelevant what module was used

A Former User

@arhi said in Duet 2 Wifi IoT module is disappointing:

teartime

not sure if typo or pure gold, but i like it.
(edit: incidentally try sending continuous ping packets to the printers and see if they become more stable, worked a treat on mine, may have to be the same host)

droftarts

@bearer That'll be all those UP printers making people cry, then... https://www.tiertime.com/

Ian

A Former User

@droftarts oh, I have one, with a part-time Duet2Maestro; going full time as soon as I have the slicer dialed in:)

arhi

@bearer not a typo, but I have to say you are the first one to notice in years

@droftarts oh yes

TT printers are mechanically very decent (I do have three different ones) and that extruder, while weirdly simple, works wonder for high temp materials. TT ABS is printed at 270C and other high temp filaments also work very good; especially if you do my simple mod for the extruder ( thing:2509563 ). This is not a PLA printer, but why would you want to print PLA on such small bed anyhow.

Anyhow that guy "tinyfab" made those nice CPU board replacements so you can run smoothieware on them. I don't use WiFi on them at all since I changed cpu and I'm using smoothieware+octoprint combination and they work awesome

Original slicer for TT printers was actually very good, in front of all open source slicers at the time and also way better than kislicer, simplify3d and other commercial ones. Unfortunately they lost the source of that one and recreated "studio" from scratch. Studio is not very good, but do make these printers bit more versatile allow for variable temperature and few other options.

But we went too much off topic. They do use ESP8266 (the variant with small wire antenna) and there's a lot of users complaining about them not working correctly. Good thing is that you don't need connection for the printer to run, their slicer sends the precompiled file to the printer and printer just executes the stepper commands set in that file so the only thing connection is used is for monitoring.

Dz

@arhi Yes. I have a smarthome with many dozens of connected wifi devices, including cameras, motions sensors, temp sensors, windows sensors, vibration sensors, etc. I am not a "wired Ethernet or nothing guy", ~~for enterprise systems, yes~~, No wifi of any kind on datacenter or enterprise systems except to provide wifi connectivity for employees. For home items, wireless is mature enough to be relied upon for most items. I run zigbee and z-wave devices on my smart things hub, and use Alexa routines to automatically tune light on/off, light colors, dimming, etc based on movement, time of day, weather and ambient light. My system also senses if people are home based on their phone present or not and performs routines accordingly, or arms cameras and sensors to keep home secure and alert on certain conditions.

As for the Duet, I have solved my issues by enabling FTP and using Filezilla to upload gcodes. If the ESP module has to re-handshake during the upload, Filezilla resumes the transfer elegantly, instead of the web control simply ending the transfer and sending a fail message. This my gcode upload times from ~15-30m to ~1-2 minutes.

So for anyone experiencing wifi upload issues in the web interface, just use FTP instead and then start the cgode file in the web interface. Problem is solved.