Duet wifi to ethernet conversion

dorro1971

Hi all,

Brand new user here!..

Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase but the wifi sucks big time!...or it might be the fact that my machine is all aluminium..i don't really know...hence the question..

Every device in my house is fine exept the duet..even the vacuum cleaner can pick up wifi all over the house...the duet is 5 feet away and will conect only for a minute or two..and then i get the flashing blue light.

Why doesn't it try to reconnect like most other devices?.. it looks like when it loses wifi..THAT'S IT...I'M GOING TO SLEEP...wake me via reboot

So...out of desparation and having a solder rework station to hand I was thinking of removingbthe wifi module and replacing it with an ethernet board...the main boards look the same although the firmware is different.

My question is where could I purchase an ethernet board? I cannot send the duet back as I have fitted it and it is now used...

I really want to find a solution as I have another five printers to convert, and right now my flagship model is nothing more than a paperweight...for some reason wifi is the only option, it doesn't really respond well to usb control...not at least via simplify 3d.

Anyhow, sorry for the semi rant...but i have had this printer in every room of the house trying to find a sweet spot.

Any help would be gratefully received exept anything to do with ssids, ips, network channels..etc...If it won't work alongside every other device I have then I'll go back to my rambo board...at least that didn't drive me insane

dorro1971

Would access point mode help me?

and if so is there a simple way to do it..I mean for the uneducated..

At least if I can connect directly, without network then I can configure my new board and get some printing done (removing the sd to write to repeatedly is a bit of a pain..lol)

Oh!....and I forgot......

Best regards to all

Ian..!

Qdeathstar

The aluminum doesn't help, if the duet is placed inside the aluminum. They have had an ethernet version out for some time now for exactly this situation.

Maybe try to reposition the duet so that it isn't inside the aluminum framework.

This guy did it

https://forum.duet3d.com/topic/2890/converting-a-duet-wifi-to-a-duet-ethernet

I guess the worse that could happen is you get a reason to buy the ethernet version of the board (by destroying your current one).

Ive also heard of people soldering antennas to the esp8266 module, though from what i gather, that does not do anything but make you feel better.

dc42

I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems remaining connected to the Duet. Have you tried changing to a different WiFi channel?

The Duet does retry twice when it loses the connection (that's when the blue LED flashes), however if the retries fail then it gives up. Perhaps it should be changed to retry continuously.

It's possible to replace the ESP-12F or ESP-12S WiFi module by the ESP-07S plus external antenna. If you mounted the antenna outside your aluminium frame, this would improve the signal strength. It's also possible to remove the WiFi module and install the Ethernet daughter board instead. In both cases, to remove the existing WiFi module you will need either hot air rework equipment, or low-melting point solder such as ChipQuik.

I know we have supplied Ethernet daughter boards + connectors before, so I suggest you email info at duet3d dot com if you want to buy one.

kuhnikuehnast

@dc42 said in Duet wifi to ethernet conversion:

I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems remaining connected to the Duet. Have you tried changing to a different WiFi channel?

The Duet does retry twice when it loses the connection (that's when the blue LED flashes), however if the retries fail then it gives up. Perhaps it should be changed to retry continuously.

It's possible to replace the ESP-12F or ESP-12S WiFi module by the ESP-07S plus external antenna. If you mounted the antenna outside your aluminium frame, this would improve the signal strength. It's also possible to remove the WiFi module and install the Ethernet daughter board instead. In both cases, to remove the existing WiFi module you will need either hot air rework equipment, or low-melting point solder such as ChipQuik.

I know we have supplied Ethernet daughter boards + connectors before, so I suggest you email info at duet3d dot com if you want to buy one.

Would it be an opinion to solder Pins in a further release of the Duets and sell the Wifi/ethernet modules seperately? So everybody could use the module he needs and if any connecting probleme occurs it would be easy to change to ethernet?

dc42

@kuhnikuehnast said in Duet wifi to ethernet conversion:

Would it be an opinion to solder Pins in a further release of the Duets and sell the Wifi/ethernet modules seperately? So everybody could use the module he needs and if any connecting probleme occurs it would be easy to change to ethernet?

Two problems with that: we'd have to increase the price of the Duet WiFi, because of the additional costs of the daughter board and its assembly (which requires hand-soldering of the headers) and the extra connectors; and it might cause the unit to fail CE certification, because the ESP-12 modules generate a lot of noise so great care is needed to contain its emissions.

dorro1971

Thank you for the help..

Regarding a board change...not everyone is ok with smt devices and the scope for failure is HUGE!..LOL.

I'm going to try a few more things over the weekend..I'll keep you posted..I'm not giving up yet..

cheers..
Ian

A Former User

Hi guys

I can chime in here, I had Wi-Fi issues too, I bought a ethernet module from e3d quite a while a ago. The conversion is simple enough to do if you are comfortable with electronics and have the right equipment. A hot air station being very desirable to allow you to remove the wifi module.

If you are very very very comfortable with electronics you could at a push lift off the module with a solder sucker and a soldering iron (don't blame me if you do it and screw it up) I have a hot air station so I used it.

Once done for me it was night and day no drop outs.

dorro1971

yes thhanks i'm fine with that Cal....cheers...I'm glad you tried it..

dorro1971

@dc42 Hi,

retry every "x" seconds would be a really good thing.
As it is now, if you don't gave a paneldue and you lose wifi, you lose all interfaces bar g code down usb=pita...

cheers

dorro1971

Hi All,
thank for your help, i'm having a little more success...but if I do lose wifi then i have to reboot to get it back..or use usb..pita.

cheers

dc42

@dorro1971 said in Duet wifi to ethernet conversion:

Hi All,
thank for your help, i'm having a little more success...but if I do lose wifi then i have to reboot to get it back..or use usb..pita.

cheers

I assume you don't have a PanelDue. You could attach a push button to a spare endstop switch, then set up a trigger macro to run M552 S1 when it is pressed.

dorro1971

Hi,

yup, that would do it......thank you,...didn't think of that!

I do have a paneldue but it's the 7 inch version and I haven't built a housing yet..lol

It's file transfer that really suffers, some of my builds are days long and one hiccup during tranfer means more waiting. I presume i can attach a spi sd card slot?...i'll check the wiki..

I'm still thinking wired enet though,..I'm handy with smt stuff, it's more a question if where I can get one and how much that would be.

My printer hardly ever moves and I can use a powerlink ethernet extender rather than my wifi.

I have it printing now anyway so I'll see how it goes.

Thank you for the continued support and please exuse my semi rant earlier...lol

cheers

dc42

Have you worked through https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/WiFi_disconnections_and_AJAX_timeout_errors, in particular have you checked what signal strength the WiFi module reports?

You can use the PanelDue to reconnect by sending M552 S1. You can set up a macro to do this, so that one touch will do it. But of course this won't help much if the main problem is disconnections during file uploads.

If you are serious about converting to Ethernet, you should email duet3d to enquire about purchasing the Ethernet kit as I suggested in my earlier reply.

HTH David

dorro1971

@dc42 Thank you David...I saw your earlier post after I had posted my response..sorry.

I will contact duet 3d about an ethernet kit as I am losing the will to live!!!

Tried many things but no success, my laptop, mobile Phone and even robot vacuum cleaner connect..but not duet...I have removed my original board and have not been able to print anything much...

At least with repetier behaviour I can use simplify to run it via usb.

I probably won't go wifi for my other printers..lol

Thank you for the continued support

Ian

dc42

You can run the Duet via USB too if you want, but you will lose the power of the web interface. Please read the wiki troubleshootimg page on WiFi disconnections if you haven't already.

dorro1971

@dc42 ...lol..spent the last four days reading and trying..

I have another duet wifi that I run from a powerlink wifi...and that's fine..this one however..no!

After this experience I may quite possibly convert both to ethernet,..I have it set up now on my airwolf axiom and although it's usb it prints quite nicely..

My printers dont move much and I can use a powerlink ethernet with a pass through mains socket.. no biggie..

Also means I can still use wifi from pc to local network.

Many thanks once again.

P. S.. It does print rather well...

dorro1971

UPDATE!

Replaced the wifi module with ethernet.

and now it's fantastic!..

I'm using a powerlink extender and it seems to be fine, So happy to have it figured..

Thanks once again for all of your help

I'll be in touch!

Best,

Ian