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Hotspot WiFi Configuration

This page has not been fully updated to represent the latest state of the Helium Network following the migration to Solana on April 18, 2023.

The Helium Hotspot provides a WiFi configuration interface via the device's BLE services. The following are instructions for how to configure a Hotspot's WiFi.

Connecting to the Hotspot over Bluetooth Low Energy

  1. Press the black button on the side of the Hotspot once, and wait a few seconds for the BLE advertising to begin. You will see the LED on top of the Hotspot turn blue when it is available.

  2. Scan for connectable devices.

  3. Connect to the Hotspot of interest with the following name format and UUID in its advertising payload.

    Name: Helium Hotspot ####

    UUID: 0fda92b2-44a2-4af2-84f5-fa682baa2b8d

  4. Discover Services.

Check if Hotspot is already Connected to WiFi

  1. Read Value from:

    Service

    UUID: 0fda92b2-44a2-4af2-84f5-fa682baa2b8d

    Characteristic - WiFiSSID

    UUID: 7731de63-bc6a-4100-8ab1-89b2356b038b

  2. If string value is empty, then no WiFi connection exist, if it is not empty, then it is currently connected to that WiFi SSID.

  3. If it is not connected or you would like to change networks then proceed.

Enable Notifications for WiFiSSID Characteristic Value Update**

  1. Enable Notifications for:

    Service

    UUID: 0fda92b2-44a2-4af2-84f5-fa682baa2b8d

    Characteristic - WiFiSSID

    UUID: 7731de63-bc6a-4100-8ab1-89b2356b038b

Scan For WiFi Networks

  1. Read Value from:

    Service

    UUID: 0fda92b2-44a2-4af2-84f5-fa682baa2b8d

    Characteristic -WiFiServices

    UUID: d7515033-7e7b-45be-803f-c8737b171a29

  2. De-serialize the binary value into the WiFi Services Protocol Buffers message found in BLE Services Docs. This will give you a list of available WiFi SSID string names.

Set Credentials For WiFi Network

  1. Using the SSID string from the scan, and password string provided by you, do the following to set the credentials.

    1. Serialize your WiFi Connect Protocol Buffer message, the definition of which is found in the BLE Services Sheet.

    2. Write serialized Value to

      Service

      UUID: 0fda92b2-44a2-4af2-84f5-fa682baa2b8d

      Characteristic - WiFiConnect

      UUID: 398168aa-0111-4ec0-b1fa-171671270608

Wait For WiFiSSID Notification to Trigger

When the notification triggers, this indicates WiFi connection success. You can repeat step two in order to verify the correct WiFi SSID name.