Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Theo Pardini

Freshman
Jul 2, 2015
4
0
0
Hi everyone I'm having some issues staying connected to my Soundcraft UI16 with my iPad. I'm using an external dual band router with a computer hardwired and during a show it will loose connection 4-5 times... even more on the iPad. Software is up to date. Any thoughts? :)~:)~:smile:
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

I connected an external router to the UI's Ethernet port, then connected my computer to its LAN port. iPad connected to the router's wifi. I was having more issues when using the internal router which is why I chose to go with an external. Am I doing something wrong? I like this thing but only when it stays connected!
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

I have no experience with the Soundcraft, but the most common problems are with the iPads themselves (various settings, sometimes iOS version issues), wireless access point placement, choice of frequency band, and amount of WiFi traffic in your vicinity.

I've had great success using WiFi for setup, system tuning and sound check but I've had some disconnects at show time that I mostly relate to the amount of WiFi traffic and venue guests with promiscuous phones and tablets. I've had failures with as few as 400 pax but had success with 4000 pax. Go figure.

Moving to the 5 gH band helped until the most recent smart phone models that have both 2.4 and 5 gH radios enabled by default. It's still better than 2.4, but the advantage is narrowing.

Try this: use your iPad and also connect your laptop to a wired connection on your 1900, CAT5 connection from the 1900 to the mixer, and see if the computer maintains the connection to the console when the iPad does not. If the computer and console maintain their connection the problem is almost certainly with your wireless connection conditions.
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

I have no experience with the Soundcraft, but the most common problems are with the iPads themselves (various settings, sometimes iOS version issues), wireless access point placement, choice of frequency band, and amount of WiFi traffic in your vicinity.

I've had great success using WiFi for setup, system tuning and sound check but I've had some disconnects at show time that I mostly relate to the amount of WiFi traffic and venue guests with promiscuous phones and tablets. I've had failures with as few as 400 pax but had success with 4000 pax. Go figure.

Moving to the 5 gH band helped until the most recent smart phone models that have both 2.4 and 5 gH radios enabled by default. It's still better than 2.4, but the advantage is narrowing.

Try this: use your iPad and also connect your laptop to a wired connection on your 1900, CAT5 connection from the 1900 to the mixer, and see if the computer maintains the connection to the console when the iPad does not. If the computer and console maintain their connection the problem is almost certainly with your wireless connection conditions.

I have done some testing on just this issue with my Ui12. I found in the same wireless environment my MacBook Pro would consistently and reliably connect to the mixer through the Ui12's internal WiFi access point. If I attempted to connect through my iPad 2 or iPhone 5 to the Ui12 access point the SoundCraft Ui12 SSID might or might not even show up. If it did and I got the IOS device connected I may loose the connection when the device went to sleep.

My reliable fallback/workaround is to connect to the Ui12 with a laptop using the hard wired ethernet connection. This works first time every time. Remember however that the Ui12 does not supply IP addresses via the Ethernet cable so you have to configure the laptop with a fixed ip address within the same subnet as the Ui12. Typically 10.10.2.x.

My conclusion is if the space you are working in is served by a 2.4x Ghz wireless access point the IOS devices will not reliably offer up the soundCraft Ui12 as a connection option. Don't know why and am not convinced I am correct here but that has been my observation. When used away from "competing" wireless services the iPad/iPhone connection to the Ui12's WiFi Hotspot is much more reliable.

I have never been able to get the connection made through the existing network using the Wireless Network settings. My suspicions are that the is a DNS issue that will likely be corrected in a firmware update. That issue is not a high priority for me since I would rather be on my own private network when operating at a gig. Never know when some wise guy might hack your mixer with his iPhone.

TL
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

My reliable fallback/workaround is to connect to the Ui12 with a laptop using the hard wired ethernet connection. This works first time every time. Remember however that the Ui12 does not supply IP addresses via the Ethernet cable so you have to configure the laptop with a fixed ip address within the same subnet as the Ui12. Typically 10.10.2.x.

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I've been getting to know my Ui16 over the past few days and, as a network engineer / IT guy in "real life", would observe the following:

IMO, Soundcraft should change the default IP addressing scheme to less commonly used ranges in future firmware releases. In the meantime, current owners may wish to change that manually. If there are two networks using the same IP range, something is going to get confused.


That issue is not a high priority for me since I would rather be on my own private network when operating at a gig. Never know when some wise guy might hack your mixer with his iPhone.

Agreed! And, for Pete's sake, change your default SSID and Key before taking it in public!

Regarding previous comments, it's unrealistic to expect an all-in-one box with a street price of $400 (Ui12) or $550 (Ui16) to have built-in wifi with the same performance as a $200 external router. After all, the mixing stuff costs money, too. I expect to configure a strong multi-band router to mine. Also worthwhile noting that, while wifi is not strictly a line-of-sight topology, physical objects can interfere with signal strength. I suggest orienting the unit to keep the antenna up high and clear of racks and stacks.

Dave
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I've been getting to know my Ui16 over the past few days and, as a network engineer / IT guy in "real life", would observe the following:

IMO, Soundcraft should change the default IP addressing scheme to less commonly used ranges in future firmware releases. In the meantime, current owners may wish to change that manually. If there are two networks using the same IP range, something is going to get confused.




Agreed! And, for Pete's sake, change your default SSID and Key before taking it in public!

Regarding previous comments, it's unrealistic to expect an all-in-one box with a street price of $400 (Ui12) or $550 (Ui16) to have built-in wifi with the same performance as a $200 external router. After all, the mixing stuff costs money, too. I expect to configure a strong multi-band router to mine. Also worthwhile noting that, while wifi is not strictly a line-of-sight topology, physical objects can interfere with signal strength. I suggest orienting the unit to keep the antenna up high and clear of racks and stacks.

Dave

All good advice. In our band we have to send the sound system out without the benefit of an operator with IT experience. No one to dope out Wifi issues within the time frame allotted to set up in a bar etc. I have our Ui set to use the hard wired CAT5 connection to eliminate any connection issues that may come up at a gig. Best practice may be to disable the hotspot entirely.

TL
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

I have our Ui set to use the hard wired CAT5 connection to eliminate any connection issues that may come up at a gig.

None of my touchscreen devices have internal ethernet cards :( . I'm thinking of getting a touchscreen monitor that can be racked and connected to the HDMI port of the Ui16.

Best practice may be to disable the hotspot entirely.

Considering some of the bars I used to play....that's not a bad idea (especially if you don't have your own sound person floating around the room).

Dave
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I just got a Ui16 and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to connect to an external router and get access from the iPad.
I can connect to the internal HotSpot on the Ui16 with my laptop and iPad, no problem.
And I can hardwire to the LAN port and my MacBook Air, no problem.
But I'm thinking their may be times when an external router might be helpful.
I have a dlink router I use with my Allen & Heath Qu16. I plug the Ui16 ethernet port into the dlink, join the dlink via WiFi on the iPad, no connection. I've tried DHCP and Static IP.
What am I missing?
Thanks for any words of wisdom.
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I just got a Ui16 and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to connect to an external router and get access from the iPad.
I can connect to the internal HotSpot on the Ui16 with my laptop and iPad, no problem.
And I can hardwire to the LAN port and my MacBook Air, no problem.
But I'm thinking their may be times when an external router might be helpful.
I have a dlink router I use with my Allen & Heath Qu16. I plug the Ui16 ethernet port into the dlink, join the dlink via WiFi on the iPad, no connection. I've tried DHCP and Static IP.
What am I missing?
Thanks for any words of wisdom.

Make sure you're plugging into one of the LAN ports of the Wireless Access Point, not the WAN port.
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Roger that, I actually have a piece of tape over the WAN port because I never use it.
My iPad is connected to the dlink via WiFi, that works.
But not making the connection to the Ui16 through the external router.
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

What am I missing?

The manual seems misleading to me, as it uses IP ranges in its examples that aren't the defaults on the unit...

If I read the manual correctly, there's no outbound DHCP function on the ethernet port of the Ui12/Ui16. So, either connect to the LAN side of your router, as suggested, or you'll have to manually input IP address, subnet mask, gateway on the Ui and the same, plus a default route info into your external router.

If time permits, I'll give it a try on mine and report back.

Dave
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

That would be great.
I'm not a networking expert by any means, but the way they explain the external router config in the manual and the video tutorial is not intuitive at all.
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

what settings did you use on your Laptop to connect by wire? if you configure the router to accept those settings it should work, some routers seem to have a limited range of addresses though. On another note these things seem to work best on the Chrome browser I know it shouldn't make a difference but having had a play with all the common browsers on various devices the consensus is Chrome works most consitantly. G
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Has anyone tried using one of these things with Microsoft's new Edge browser in Windows 10?

I would be curious to know how it works.
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Has anyone tried using one of these things with Microsoft's new Edge browser in Windows 10?

Your post was just the gentle nudge I needed to finally run the inplace upgrade from Win 8.1 Pro to Win 10 Pro. Two hours later (one to perform the upgrade, the other to troubleshoot and resolve a bad graphics driver "INTERNAL_POWER_ERROR" BSOD event), I was able to try it.

Upon first pass, *some* functions work in Edge under Win 10, but I was unable to move the Sliders via my touchscreen. Worked fine in Chrome (also under Win 10).

Let me know if you'd like me to check something in particular.

Dave
 
Re: Soundcraft UI12 wifi connection issues

Let Win10 run over night. There are multiple updates that will be pushed to your new install and many broken functions will be restored.