wifi dropping?
I'm the first to suspect the main culprit with wifi problems is my router, but when wifi drops on all my other devices I have a way to poke them to make them reconnect. Is there any way to get the MK4 (firmware 5.0.0) to try to reconnect? The only trick that seems to work is to reload the credentials. A new menu item for "try to connect again" would be useful.
RE: wifi dropping?
So I have a new MK4, only had it about a month. This printer is delightful in almost every way! I was also excited to see the WiFi option to download prints! So, I jumped through the hoops and got it working. However, it doesn't _STAY_ working! I spend a half hour every time trying to get the WiFi to work again, when it would be quicker to just go get the thumb drive and copy the file manually. Clearly, this completely annuls the purpose of having a WiFi link!
My router is set to assign the printer a static IP based on the MAC address, and the other wireless devices are still connected just fine, so I know it's not the network. The network logs show that the printer last communicated at 1:15am (presumably when the print finished), and nothing since. The printer still showed the WiFi icon on screen, as if it were connected, but the network side has seen no packets from the printer since then.
The printer firmware needs to implement some kind of keep-alive capability. This could be as simple as some sort of request packet on the gateway or DHCP server once every half hour or so. Then the "try to connect again" work-around button suggested by @tom_horsley wouldn't be needed, as it would always just stay connected.
Are you listening Prusa engineers? This is a HUGE waste of time being borne by your customers, and it would compromise the otherwise rock-solid integrity of Prusa engineering if you were advertising WiFi capability when it effectively doesn't work. Please let us know you are working on this!
RE:
hi, you can just try to use other ESP-01s module... those are cheap, buy two different than yours, and very likely will be better
RE: wifi dropping?
Hi Mixer3d. I think you have misunderstand the situation.
"other ESP-01s module... those are cheap, buy two different than yours, and very likely will be better"
I did not install my own Espressif-based WiFi module. This is the new Prusa MK4, factory assembled, with a WiFi feature already included. The problem isn't likely hardware, but that the printer goes quiet on the link for so long (8 hrs?) that the network gear has to conclude the printer has powered off. Then when PrusaSlicer tries to send a print, the printer is unavailable until you re-run the entire wifi setup procedure... which gets old REAL fast!
-Dan