WiFiRanger Firmware upgrade available

[GraniteStaters]

Everyone, I received an email from Winegard indicating the availability of a new firmware version following an announcement in August.  It is purported to improve the web user interface and enhance  the SkyPro functionality.  As many of you know, the WiFiRanger has limited use for most of us who don't have seasonal campsites at campgrounds that offer sufficient bandwidth to support potential users.  I will be installing the update and will update this thread with my thoughts about the web user interface and any significant changes I discover.

[topgun2]

14 hours ago, GraniteStaters said:

As many of you know, the WiFiRanger has limited use for most of us who don't have seasonal campsites at campgrounds that offer sufficient bandwidth to support potential users. 

Can't wait to hear how this update goes.  I've always thought that the "old" interface was unduly complicated for most users.

As a side note referring to the quote above:  I've mentioned several times before that the WiFi booster is problematic when used in a typical campground setting due to the (usual) limited bandwidth of the system that the particular campground is using.  However, I've learned that while on the road, the booster is very useful to me in that I can pull into virtually any fast food joint parking lot or Walmart or Lowes or Home Depot or small town library or ....... and not even have to get out of my truck in order to send/receive emails.  If you don't have a cellphone or are trying to save cellphone expense, these WiFi boosters are great when used in this manner.

Bill

[GraniteStaters]

Bill, I couldn't agree more about realistic expectations for bandwidth availability of campground Wi-Fi.  You know there is a "head end" issue when your performance from the Wi-Fi is better outside of peak hours.  Our experience with the Cell booster has definitely been positive.  Now on to my update.

So here are my preliminary results.  First and foremost, you will need to ticket opened with WiFiranger to allow them to evaluate whether the older units, 2019 and before, are able to be upgraded to 7.1... firmware.  They will ask for the ID of the unit.  This a six digit ID numbers in the top right hand corner of the WiFiranger control panel.  They will let you know if you can proceed and point your "Check for Update" link to the correct location in their cloud infrastructure.  From here, I can share my experience which was successful.  

First, when we have our Oliver at home, my WiFiranger will automatically connect via Wi-Fi to my home broadband.  I can access the control panel using the local hostname in the URL of Firefox, mywifranger.com on my laptop while connected to the Wi-Fi network I created for my Oliver LEII.  The URL mywifiranger.com resolves and redirects your browser to your WiFiranger IP address.  If the WiFiranger is connected to a network, it will establish a connection to the WiFiranger cloud and prompt you to Check for Updates.  When you select check for updates after WiFiranger support has made their changes, the Check for Update allow you to upgrade to the new firmware.  Firefox screen pushed the old menu down the screen and after I pressed the Check for updates link.  It reappeared showing the link to the new firmware.  When you click on the upgrade, you will be prompted to permit the upgrade to continue.  The SkyPro and Core will be upgraded.  The upgrade of the SkyPro finished and I received an error when the Core upgrade was about 45 percent complete. The message indicated a version mismatch and the installation aborted.  Sometimes mismatches are to be expected with two devices are involved so I tried several more times and finally started receiving an error saying insufficient internet bandwidth.  I updated my ticket and then tried using my iPhone tethered to the Core.  After about an hour of waiting for a response from support and a lot of wasted time trying to work with the tethered iPhone, I just took a break.  About 30 minutes later I accessed the WiFiranger control panel and it showed the upgrade was completed successfully.  I posted the update to the ticket and waited for support to respond.  They haven’t.  I spent some time testing and looking at the software menus.  They have simplified the menus and removed some of the confusion.  I haven’t noticed any speed improvements.

 

[GraniteStaters]

One additional item to post about the WiFiranger configuration.  Remember that if you leave your WiFiranger hardware on at night and are bothered by the status LEDs, there is a configuration option to turn off the LEDs in the Advanced Tab for the configuration.  After you change the settings, you will need to reboot the device via the menu or power off/on the device before it takes effect.  Warning, never power off the WiFiranger while the configuration is being saved. 

[GraniteStaters]

This is the URL for the new Wi-Fi Ranger firmware

 

https://wifiranger.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/WFR-User-Manual-710b11-09152021.pdf

[GraniteStaters]

I wanted to update this thread with some additional information that a couple of us have uncovered.  I got a call from Richard Weare earlier this summer when he was having trouble connecting the WiFiranger units to his home WiFi.  This was an Oliver that he purchased used from someone who hadn't use the WiFiranger at all.  He and I worked through the basics, but he was having issues with connecting to his internet provider.  After resolving that issue he was able to upgrade to a newer version of the firmware, but not the latest.  Winegard's support org indicated that he had an older version of the SkyPro and it would not support their newer version of the firmware.  I had already upgraded my SkyPro 2 to the very latest.  The SkyPro is really the most important piece of the solution for extending the range to a campground's Wi-Fi.  The latest version of firmware is 7.1.0b12. 

[GraniteStaters]

WiFiranger, a Winegard company, has just released the newest firmware and I have successfully installed it on my 2019 iteration of the product.  The release, 7.1.0b13 supports the Ethernet tethering to Starlink as its major new feature and various bug fixes.  The upgrade was announced on November 10th, 2022 and I did the upgrade on November 14th while sitting in my house with our Oliver gear on and connected to our Comcast Wi-Fi cable modem.  The install did the SkyPro first and then the Core.  Both are required to be at the same version and the entire install took over an hour and I had no anomalies.

[GraniteStaters]

Winegard has released a new firmware update for the WiFiranger products.  This version fixes security flaws and some UI issues.  The version can be updated from the WiFiranger main screen of the Web interface.  Version is 7.1.0B14.