Help me decide please

Martin_S

Duet Wifi or Ethernet? Sorry if it has already been asked, but I don't know what to do.

I'm scared that in the middle of a print my wifi disconnects and connects back again, it happens.
Sometimes I loose connection for around a minute and then it comes backs on its own.

Will this be a problem for the Duet Wifi? or once I hit "print" it doesnt matter if I have a poor wifi connection?

Thanks in advance.
Martin.

deckingman

You won't loose a print. Prints are done from the internal sd card so once a print has started, you can disconnect the computer altogether and nothing bad will happen. You just won't have any feedback on how the print is progressing. Personally, I prefer wired but my machine is right next to a network switch and computer (and a long way from the wifi hub).

Edit. If you go for the optional panel due, then losing a network connection is even less of a problem as you'll still see what going on. It might still be an issue uploading files and so forth but even this can be worked around by removing the sd card, transferring the file, then putting it back in the machine. Not convenient but doable.

Martin_S

Hello Ian, thanks for the quick reply.

I thought that the g-code was sent via wifi and not by using an sd card.
Great then, I will buy the wifi version. My guts tells me to get the ethernet, but I'm way to lazy to make a proper 7m cable connection

Martin_S

Yes sir, I will be buying a 4.3" PanelDue

T3P3Tony

Hi Martin

The SD card is mounted on the board itself and normally you would transfer files over the web interface (either WiFi or Ethernet).

If you have a very busy WiFi environment with lots of competing networks the the Ethernet is a better choice. Also if it's an industrial environment with a lot of interference the shielded cat 5 Ethernet is a good choice. If not then WiFi works great.

Martin_S

Thanks Tony, now I'm stuck at the checkout page.
It seems that there is no way I can pay with Visa or Master, just PayPal.

Currently trying to add a credit card to my PayPal account, but I can't confirm it. They made a small charge to the card that should create a 4-digit code, the problem is I can't find it…

The universe is working against me.

number40fan

Can you view your CC statement online?

Martin_S

Yes, that small charge is not showing up. Weird.
Guess I should wait.

number40fan

I can't remember if it was my CC or Debit card that took a couple of days to show up. Waiting sucks!

Martin_S

Yay! Order placed. Bought it from Filastruder though.
Not the smartest move considering that it needs to reach Spain, but they have more payment options.

I'm eager to replace this old Rambo board with a Duet Wifi

DjDemonD

I think in terms of marketing/customer education, this issue about how a wifi controller prints needs to be made quite clear to users, many of whom presume you can (or should!) drip feed gcode over wifi. I wonder if there is a way to make it quite obvious how it works such as

"Send whole gcode files to your card via wifi rapidly, then print direct from the memory card - total reliability, no PC required to print!"