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Embedded WiFi in X-Air/ M-Air tests

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WK154:
OK, so in order to have a reproducible test procedure I decided to start from the beginning. Only using my MR12 (the most sensitive) I restored FACTORY settings that's that 10 second paperclip routine. This was never done since I received my unit. As a point of interest, in it's history it received at least 2 firmware upgrades since without anything other than reboots. Want a laugh about the "Factory Reset" values, well it's a tribal secret, no documentation anywhere (a dirty word with the new tribal council elders. Hmm' wonder what their smoking  :) ). You can make a copy of the various menus but that would only be for your unit, nothing for a reference comparison. I started this test on 12/26/18 6:21PM with the PC V1.5 MR edit program. It still has firmware V1.17.NO connection failures after 91 hrs. So I added the iPad and the Android for more activity. It lasted for an additional 2.5 hrs. Fortunately I was there when it failed and the PC version of course needs intervention to continue but the iPad was flashing disconnect notices several times, but continued on, the Android never flinched. This AFAICT is due to the loss of Beacon messages and when to consider the connection broken. This varies with the control surfaces (PC, iPad, Android). The MR12 did not hang and the test continued. Quite a difference from previous results where the MR12 needed to be power cycled to recover. On 1/1/19 the iPad locked up and only a reboot recovered it, the same iPad that ran a browser for 6 days straight streaming audio and videos from U-Tube. You be the judge I call it a bug. The iPad lost connection briefly again 13 hrs later but continued. On 1/1/19 at 9:45PM I added the fourth control surface to the test, an Android Galaxy  View running Mixing Station. The PC disconnected again on 1/2/19 at 12.39AM but I reconnected it without issues. So far only the Androids have had no connection problems. I will terminate this test after 48hrs on Mixing Station use after 1/3/19 9:45PM. The conclusions are however already obvious:
The iPad App can crash iOS, not good and disconnects but recovers otherwise.
The PC app has disconnects as well and requires intervention to continue but doesn't crash W10.
The Androids so far are the winners with no disconnects. Kudos to Google and Dave Schumann.
With all that said I would not recommend using it for a gig even with Androids since the real problem lies outside of your control called phones. Most WiFi routers can only handle 50 clients (ie. Airport Express). 2.4GHz congestion is the real problem that at present can be avoided with the 5GHz band or wired.
Clearly when updating the firmware/software a FACTORY reset should be performed after the update and a reboot. I have not tested the effect of reloading saved shows/snapshots from prior versions. Clearly there are issues with the update process. This is a temporary workaround.
Additional info on test parameters are:
 A 30ft separation and two walls existed between the MR12 and control surfaces typically at -60 to -65 dBm, near the limit of the range. One e-835 on channel 1 picking up room noise and a signal generator on channel 2 for more activity. This test of course only applies to the hardware and software version used in the test YMMV. I will update the final results.

UPDATE:
The test continued with failures of iPad and PC several times more. The iPad required terminating the App and restarting it but no problem with the MR12 as prior to the Factory reset times. The PC just needed the reconnect intervention (click on messages) to continue. Androids just continued to work throughout this. After the 48hrs I set for Mixing Station I decided to add an additional control surface, a PC. Everything is still running just fine even with five control surfaces. Four is clearly not a hard limit just one defined by Microchip for their software.

Now for the conclusion. I would NOT recommend AP mode for anything other than practice when you can maybe afford a loss of control. It's clear to me that there are issues with the firmware and the issuance of Beacon messages (the heartbeat of WiFi) that causes the various Apps to stop communicating. I would use the wired connection for Firmware updates and gigs. Test finally terminated 1/4/19 10:00 AM with everything working.
Cheers

WK154:
Next will be a long-term test of the wired connection that I've used all along. Hope it survives. :)
Cheers

WK154:
Long term wired test started 1/8/19 10:00 PM. I am using the LAN mode with DHCP Server enabled. I have two PC's and one Android connected via a switch (Dlink). It's now been 25 hrs. and all is well.

Update: 1/10/19 10:36 now at 48+ hrs. and all is well. Displaying pink noise on channel two EQ with RTA which should generate a lot of communications traffic.

WK154:
It's now 73 hrs. and all is well. I also added another PC to the mix now having four control surfaces. I'll let it go a little longer but it's pretty clear that none of the AP problems exist.

WK154:
It's been 96 hrs and all four control surfaces are working. Clearly a change from AP mode. Terminated test at 1/12/19 11:32PM.
Conclusion: Wired LAN mode is solid as opposed to AP mode. Android's are even solid in AP mode. AP mode has RTOS delays far in excess of what is required by both iOS and W10 Beacon expectations causing a disconnect. iOS is approximately 2 sec. and W10 slightly more but Android is 6 sec. as per error message. The MR12 RTOS delays need to be looked at and fixed. There are many more modes to evaluate but I will leave that to someone else. It's also quite clear that a Factory reset is required after any Firmware or App update at the present time.
Cheers

P.S. Actually the test ran for another 2 days without a problem till I really shut it down for the wireless test. That's about 144 hrs.

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