PEARL IoT Connectivity: Best Router and AP Settings Guide

General Understanding

PEARL and other IoT devices do not need more speed, as much as they need to obtain a stable connection quickly when needed. The PEARL is typically installed at the entrance and often ends up being one of the devices that is the farthest away from your router or AP. This means it is more likely to have a weaker signal. If you have optimized your router for higher speed, but lower range you may experience more issue.

In this guide we’ll recommend” basic” and “advanced” settings to ensure a better connectivity. Note that Router and AP implementations and terminology varies. You may need to research what is the equivalent terminology for your AP/Router, and your result may vary based on the method of implementation chosen.

For simplicity we’ll provide recommendations (in bold) , an explanation and an example of the issue this caused from a “frustrated customer perspective”!

Basic Settings

1. Stick to a 2.4ghz only network – Disable Band steering, “SmartConnect”, or any setting causing you to have the 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ on the same network name (SSID). Separate them! Router manufacturers use their own algorithm and can sometimes mistakenly ask 2.4Ghz only device to connect to the 5Ghz band, refusing their connection on 2.4Ghz. This usually only gets resolved by are boot of the AP/Router and may come back randomly. 
   • The PEARL, and many other IoT devices, are 2.4ghz only for reason of needing range and reduced power consumption.
   • Type of Issue: “It was all working great and now it stopped! I did not change anything on the network side, and the batteries are brand new. Rebooting the PEARL does not work” – Frustrated Customer

2. Stick with WPA/WPA2 Personal. Enterprise grade security and WPA3 is not supported.
   • Type of Issue: “it just won’t work! I can’t even add my device in the app, it always fails!”

Advanced Settings

1. Stick with 20 or 20/40 MHz Bandwidth NOT 40Mhz only. More speed, but less reliable connection, it requires a stronger signal AND is more prone to interference.
   • Type of issue: “This thing is unreliable! Sometimes I have counts, sometimes I don’t. I get connectivity alerts, but then sometimes they go away. Plus, the signal is not that weak!” – Frustrated Customer

2. Stick to a low minimum bitrate (6mbps typical but down to 1mbit possible). The PEARL supports up to 72mbit speeds, but the higher you ask as a minimum the stronger the signal needs to be. This will reduce range and reduce reliability of connection.
   • Type of issue: “This thing is unreliable! Sometimes I have counts, sometimes I don’t. I get connectivity alerts, but then sometimes they go away. Plus, the signal is not that weak!” – Frustrated Customer

3. Minimum RSSI – More permissive then less (-80is good for IoT). This is the connection strength. The lower the settings, the less demanding the router/AP is, but if the signal is too weak, you may end up having reliability problem. That said, if you only allow stronger signal, then you reduce the range, and your PEARL may end up not being able to connect.
   • Type of issue: “Does not connect at all” and “This thing is unreliable”.

4. Guard Interval – Not Tested, and typically not a problem unless you have applied specific rules.

5. DHCP – By default should be ON – PEARL like pretty much all devices, comes preconfigured to get it’s IP address through DHCP. Note you can configure the PEARL with a static IP during setup, but by default, it needs a DHCP server. 
   • Type of issue: “Does not connect at all” and “This thing is unreliable”.