BCD436HP/BCD536HP: BCD536HP Siren App

[crowleyd102]

I am trying to get my BCD536 to work with my Siren WiFi Dongle on my iPhone 10X as I have in the past.

As far as I can determine, the dongle is not broadcasting in WiFi mode.

The BCD536 WiFi Info shows an IP of 192.168.1.1 when set in Access Point Mode.

I used the FING App on my iPhone to scan nearby WiFi IPs, and 192.168.1.1 does not show up, nor does the Siren App work on the phone.

Any Ideas?

Dave N0HMI

 

[Ubbe]

If you have a WiFi router, does it connect to that?
If you have no WiFi router what about starting the internet share mode on your iPhone then connect to that from the 536 using infrastructure mode?

Sometimes I have to unplug the WiFi dongle from the 536 and reconnect as it seems to stop working if haven't been using it for a long time.

/Ubbe

 

[jtwalker]

With access point mode you are creating a separate network with the 536 as the AP, not your home network router. You need to use infrastructure mode if you want to see the 536 show up on your home network. If you want to connect the iPhone to your 536 (just these two on a separate network), then you can use access point mode and connect your iPhone to network BCD536HP_005645.

 

[crowleyd102]

In Infrastructure mode, the scanner says network connected, gives IP of 192.168.0.152. Set this IP in Siren on iPhone. Still no dice? Siren AP does not display Scanner Info? Also, this IP does not appear in router's list of wireless clients?

Thanks Again

 

[jtwalker]

Is your phone connected to same wifi network as 536 when it is in infrastructure mode?

Lets stick with infrastructure mode discussions.

 

[crowleyd102]

I'm not sure how to determine that. The iPhone App FING does not show the 536 among the devices it finds.
FING finds my 2 PCs, my printer, my TV, my iPhone, and my Roku Box.

Thanks

 

[jtwalker]

Who configured the 536 to connect in infrastructure mode? I am thinking there is something amiss here, but since you are getting an IP address it must be connecting to something… neighbor’s network?

 

[richardbritt]

Maybe you can temporarily put your 536 in your vehicle, and drive away from any neighbors (like to a large Walmart parking lot away from the building) and try to connect to your cell phone again and look at the IP address. You might be getting into something else besides your own internet wifi. Can you scan using your phone and see more than one wifi router? Are any of those open or password protected? Also, if yours is password protected and your 536 is connecting to a wifi without asking for your password, it's connected to something other than your router

 

[ofd8001]

If worst comes to worst, you can try a dongle reset and start from scratch.

Access Point is where you would use the dongle in a vehicle that is moving around and you want a smart phone to act as a remote. It's range is very limited, such as around a vehicle.

Infrastructure is where the dongle connects to a nearby router and thus is greater coverage area, like a home.

The Siren App was a really great concept. However there were so many bugs with the dongle initially, I think Uniden pretty much gave up on it. So many features were never fully implemented. I've pretty much abandoned dongle use.

 

[Ubbe]

Who configured the 536 to connect in infrastructure mode? I am thinking there is something amiss here, but since you are getting an IP address it must be connecting to something… neighbor’s network?

You have to state the WiFi password so not very likely that the scanner connects to anything else than the home network.

There's a specific firmware for the dongle so just see to that it is the latest, that's probably 10 years old by now, and unplug scanner from power and power up again and have no other cables connected like USB.

As it connects but have no data connection in either access point or infrastructure mode it seems to be dead when it comes to transmit and receive data other than the login procedure. But if it logins and get a IP number from the router it should be shown in the routers list of connected devices, you cannot bypass that in any way.

That FING app might not be the correct thing to be used but instead login directly to the WiFi router and check there.

/Ubbe

 

[crowleyd102]

Thanks to all who have replied. I've tried your suggestions so far (all in Infrastructure Mode), except for driving to Walmart. I believe that the dongle is connected to my TP-Link_6E75 router, but that the router doesn't see the dongle, according to the router's WiFi client list. Check the attached JPGs, and tell me if I'm wrong

 

[crowleyd102]

Sorry, forgot to attach

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Thanks to all who have replied. I've tried your suggestions so far (all in Infrastructure Mode)

In this screenshot the scanner is in Access Point mode. It should come up as an available network on your phone to be joined. On your phone you'd choose the BCD536HP_005645 wifi from your list of available networks then input the passkey if you set one on the scanner during wifi setup. The phone should then connect to the scanner. You'd then launch the Siren app then enter 192.168.1.1 as IP. This mode is suitable if you're controlling the scanner out of range of a wifi router.

 

[GlobalNorth]

Great concept and poor execution. I've never come across anyone that had full success with it and I stopped trying years ago.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Great concept and poor execution. I've never come across anyone that had full success with it and I stopped trying years ago.

Define "full success". I've had success connecting to my 536HP in my car using the Siren app & on various wifis using Siren and Proscan. Sure there are bugs here & there with the former of the two but they can be worked around...

 

[crowleyd102]

Thank you, Whiskey3JMC[/SIZE][/USER]. It works!!!! I forgot all about connecting my phone to the scanner's SSID

 

[ofd8001]

Here is something from Uniden that may be helpful: https://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/UnidenMan4/SirenAppTips

 

[Ubbe]

It's still a mystery why it connects to the TP-link router and get assigned the 192.168.0.204 IP number but doesn't show up in the routers list of connected devices.

The comment "I used the FING App on my iPhone to scan nearby WiFi IPs, and 192.168.1.1 does not show up" are probably only to scan for IP's in the home network and not for other WiFi routers that should be the name BCD536HP_xxxxxxx for the scanners access point.

/Ubbe

 

[richardbritt]

In this screenshot the scanner is in Access Point mode. It should come up as an available network on your phone to be joined. On your phone you'd choose the BCD536HP_005645 wifi from your list of available networks then input the passkey if you set one on the scanner during wifi setup. The phone should then connect to the scanner. You'd then launch the Siren app then enter 192.168.1.1 as IP. This mode is suitable if you're controlling the scanner out of range of a wifi router.

Also the version 7.28 is the dongle software version. I have several and one of them didn't work. It was version 4.something and I upgraded it to the latest. 7.28 is what I am using. So you're using the correct version if you are wondering

 

[crowleyd102]

I switched to Infrastructure mode, and Siren works now. Here are the instructions I wrote:

Thanks, All!!!