Skip to content

Connect To Wi-Fi After EMF

There are several ways to connect your Tildagon to Wi-Fi depending on what approach you want to take.

Switch between multiple Wi-Fi networks

If you regularly move between several networks (for example home, work, and a makerspace), install Wifi Switcher from the app store. In the app store on the badge, select Use Code (or CodeInstall on older firmwares) and enter 04033124 to install it. The app saves multiple network profiles so you can switch between them on the badge without retyping your SSID and password each time.

Compatibility of 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks

The badge hardware only supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks. Many routers offer both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks under the same SSID, and use band steering to push devices onto the 5GHz network. The ESP32 in the badge is known to not handle this well in some cases, so you might find yourself unable to connect to some Wi-Fi networks. If you can, it might help to disable band steering on your router, or set the 2.4GHz network to a different SSID and connect to that directly.

Option 1 - Through the GUI

Early versions of the firmware did not include support for updating the Wi-Fi details through the badge settings menu. If you are on an early version, you'll need to update the firmware before completing this option.

This is the easiest option, but a real pain to do because you have to type out each letter using the up (A), down (D) and select (B) keys.

  1. On the home screen scroll down to settings using the D key, and enter using C key.
  2. Scroll through the key to "WIFI SSID" and press enter.
  3. Use the up and down keys to select each letter, pressing B to select.
  4. Press C to save.
  5. Repeat for the "WIFI password" option.
  6. If not using WPA2 Enterprise, empty the Enterprise username by editing then submitting without picking any characters.
  7. Exit the Settings app using F.
  8. Push the Reboop button and try connecting.

Option 2 - Use Tildagon Flasher

Probably the simplest option is to open Tildagon Flasher in a Chromium browser.

  1. Open Tildagon Flasher in a Chromium based web browser.
  2. With the device connected via USB-C to your computer press "Connect".
  3. Select the Tildagon from the list.
  4. Select "Logs & Console".
  5. Enter the following commands one at a time, followed by enter, editing the 'changeme' sections with your details:
import settings
settings.set('wifi_ssid', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_password', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_wpa2ent_username', None)
settings.save()

This may error in older firmwares. If so, ignore the error and continue. (The instructions are to ensure the value isn't set, if it is already not set it errors.)

import settings
settings.set('wifi_ssid', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_password', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_wpa2ent_username', 'username')
settings.save()
  1. Push the Reboop button and try connecting.

Option 3 - Use mpremote

  1. Install mpremote
  2. Connect the Tildagon to your computer using a USB-C data cable
  3. On your computer's command line, run mpremote. You should see:

    Connected to MicroPython at /dev/ttyACM0
    Use Ctrl-] or Ctrl-x to exit this shell

  4. Hold down the ctrl key on your computer. While holding it down, press the C key on your computer. This will open up a shell for you to enter commands.
  5. Enter the following commands one at a time, followed by enter, editing the "changeme" sections with your details:
import settings
settings.set('wifi_ssid', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_password', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_wpa2ent_username', None)
settings.save()

The wifi_wpa2ent_username line may error if the value was never set — that's fine, ignore it and continue.

import settings
settings.set('wifi_ssid', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_password', 'changeme')
settings.set('wifi_wpa2ent_username', 'username')
settings.save()
  1. Restart the badge. Hold down the ctrl key on your computer. While holding it down, press the D key on your computer.
  2. To test if you are connected, open the "App store"

Option 4 - Use mpremote to edit the settings file

  1. Install mpremote
  2. Connect the Tildagon to your computer using a USB-C data cable
  3. On your computer's command line, run mpremote edit settings.json. This should open your default text editor. If it fails with edit: $EDITOR not set then run EDITOR="nano" mpremote edit settings.json to use nano to edit the file.

Add the following keys and values to the json object, replacing MY-NETWORK and MY-PASSWORD with the real values for your network. Remember that json can't have trailing commas. * "wifi_ssid": "MY-NETWORK", "wifi_password":"MY-PASSWORD"

Add the following keys and values to the json object, replacing MY-NETWORK, MY-PASSWORD and MY-USER with the real values for your network. Remember that json can't have trailing commas. * "wifi_ssid": "MY-NETWORK", "wifi_password":"MY-PASSWORD", "wifi_wpa2ent_username":"MY-USER"

  1. Restart the badge by pressing the reboop button on the device
  2. To test if you are connected, open the "App store"

Option 5 - Create a clone of the EMF Wi-Fi network

This could be a good option if you manage a Makerspace or other location where multiple EMF badges might visit.

Because this involves configuring your network this guide can't give detailed instructions.

At a high level you need to:

  1. Create a new SSID called "emf2024" that uses WPA2 Enterprise.
  2. Create a RADIUS username "badge" and password "badge"
  3. Push the Reboop button and try connecting.

Any device will be able to connect to your network using this relatively guessable network connection, you could use MAC filtering, but may also want to consider isolating this network from general internet access and communicating with your other devices for security.