Bluetooth Setup and Operation

The FireBoard 2 Drive controller uses Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) to communicate with your smart device when possible. As such, there is no need to pair your controller to your smart device. Bluetooth is set up automatically when you first add your controller to the FireBoard App. After that, your FireBoard 2 Drive controller will communicate with your smart device using Bluetooth if Wi-Fi is not available. We'll show you how to set up Bluetooth later when we get to setting up the FireBoard App.

WiFi Setup and Operation

Since the Fireboard has no keypad, you must use your phone and the FireBoard App to enter the network name and password. On most other devices, this means going through a bunch of network black magic in order to get the phone talking to the device using Wi-Fi so the network name and password can be sent to the device. However in the case of the FireBoard 2 Drive, a connection already exists which allows you to bypass all the network black magic. The controller and your phone are already talking via Bluetooth, so all the App has to do is simply ask you to pick a network and enter a password. The App can then send this information to the controller over Bluetooth and HEY PRESTO! the controller is on the network. Here's how it's done:

Step 1. Tap on the "Settings" icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

Step 2. Tap on the name of your controller.

Step 3. Tap on the "Manage WiFi" tab.

Step 4. Tap on "View Available Networks".

Step 5. Tap on the name of the network you wish to connect to.

Step 6. Enter your network password and tap on "Connect".

Step 7. The FireBoard controller will now try to join your network. Tap on "OK".

Step 8. You will see "Connecting" while the unit tries to join the network.

Step 9. Once your controller has connected, the work "Connecting" will be replaced with your network name. You can tap on the "Back" button and be returned to the Dashboard.

Something else we really like about the FireBoard implementation of Wi-Fi is that they actually show you a numeric value for the signal strength. We find this more useful than simply knowing that you have 1, 2 or 3 arcs on your Wi-Fi symbol. Considering how much trouble people have with Wi-Fi connections (especially out in their back yards) this little bit of knowledge can be very helpful when trying to shoot a problem.

If you go to the Settings screen in the App, you will see the signal strength both in a Wi-Fi symbol and a numeric value. (Same for the battery also.) On the FireBoard 2 Drive's screen there is a Wi-Fi icon on the right hand side, but if you go to the Info screen, you will see an actual signal strength shown for the WiFi connection:

Wi-Fi signal strength indicator in the App.

Wi-Fi signal strength indicator on the controller display.