SkyTrak WiFi Issues - SOLVED

[kinnus]

I've have been working through some issues getting my SkyTrak connected to my network this past week and wanted to share what the fix was since I didn't find any related articles on here. Hopefully this will save someone a few headaches.

I have my main router (ASUS RT-AC68u) setup in my basement office which is in the corner of my house. It doesn't have great coverage so I ran a network cable to the upstairs and have an access point (ASUS RT-AC1200) setup which has no problem covering the whole house, including the garage where I have my simulator setup. When first trying to connect my SkyTrak to the access point SSID it would blink yellow like it found the network but it would never connect and eventually go back to direct mode. After doing some testing I realized I could connect just fine to the router downstairs, as long as I was close enough. Reading through these forums I tried all the recommended stuff...

- Reset the SkyTrak
- Updated the firmware on both the router and access point
- Made sure the SSID was not more than 11 characters
- Made sure the PW didn't have special characters

No matter what I tried it would just never connect. I eventually started looking through each setting one by one comparing my main router to the access point. Going through the advanced settings I found something called "Preamble Type". On the main router, that works, it was set to long and on the access point, not working, it was set to short. I looked up this setting and it talked about how older wireless devices might not support the short setting. Bingo this was it. Changing the preamble type to long on the access point fixed my issue. It now connects with no problem. From what I have read the default setting for this is normally long on most routers so not sure why my access point was to set to short.

https://routerguide.net/preamble-type-short-or-long/

[kinnus]

I may have spoke too soon. I just turned the SkyTrak back on and now it is no longer connecting again. I reset the SkyTrak again and went through the network connection steps and now it is back to just not connecting when trying the Access Point. It blinks yellow like it has found it but never goes solid yellow and eventually goes to red. If I try to connect to the main router again it connects with no problems. Out of ideas at this point. If anyone else has had success connecting to an access point please let me know if I am missing something or if you had to adjust any special settings.

[Shardak]

I have a different router (Archer C7), but had similar connection issues.

What worked for me was to assign the skytrak a permanent IP. Normally a device using DHCP will pull an IP every time its powered on. It may or may not be the same IP. There was some issue with either my router, or the skytrak, that would make me disconnect alot when using DHCP with dynamic IP. Changing to permanent IP (based on the device MAC address), and I have not had a connection issue since.

[kinnus]

Thanks for the idea. I setup the SkyTrak to have a static IP but that didn't seem to help, still couldn't connect to the Access Point. I don't really have a problem with it disconnecting, more that it just never connects in the first place.

[kinnus]

UPDATE - I have a workaround at the moment. I installed a range extender and put it in the room next to my garage where it could still pick a signal from the router downstairs and reaches out to the garage just fine. I can connect the SkyTrak to the range extender SSID just fine. I'm tempted, just to test, to turn my RT-AC1200 into the main router instead of an access point to see if there are any connection issues. If it doesn't work it might point to the RT-AC1200 being the problem. If it does work then it will point back to the SkyTrak having a problem with the way I have my access point configured.

I also called SkyTrak support today and they ended up escalating my ticket. I got an email from them with a list of recommended and non recommended routers and of course my main router the RT-AC68U is the only one listed as not recommended. I sent a follow up email to see why my router is not recommended. This might make some sense as to why there is some sort of an issue, it's weird because that is the router that it is actually working with.

Thanks for the few tips so far.

[penrose]

To avoid all this I just installed my router in the same room as my sim and hardwired everything. this router ASUS 5300 can service the entire house...downstairs and upstairs.

[golf612]

I'm so frustrated. I recently had to switch out my Xfinity router and I guess the new routers can only use 10.0.1.X as their IP addresses. I called Xfinity support last night and was informed of that. Skytrak support tells me the Skytrak won't connect to a 10.0.1.X IP address. I'm trying to connect to a netgear range extender in the garage that has a 30MBPS up and 11MBPS down signal. I use an Iphone 6S. Would it be possible to just try and change the IP address on the Netgear Extender and try to get it to connect in network mode that way? I'm not a network tech and I don't think this should be this difficult...

[golf612]

So both my Xfinity router and the skytrak have IP adresses that are 10.0.0.1 . The skytrak IP address is static and can't be changed and was confirmed today to be 10.0.0.1. I'm struggling to understand why Skygolf assigned a static IP address that is the exact same address as common routers. I'm going to try to somehow change the IP address of the router even though Xfinity would not walk me though this last night on the phone.

[SkyTrakSpiderman]

I've the same problem with my Samsung note tablet...the response I got from SkyTrak support...I've not been able to work out what to do other than buy a different tablet as my girlfriends tablet connects ok!

The reason for this is that most routers will use a common IP address of 192.168.x.x. But, most "Enterprise" networks/routers use an IP address of 10.0.0.1. This is in direct conflict with the SkyTrak because it broadcast a static IP address of 10.0.0.1.

The solution here would be to have your IT Professional set up a network or hotspot that is separate from your "Enterprise" network in order for the SkyTrak to connect.

The customer would have two options to fix the issue:

Add an additional wireless router with a standard IP address prefix of 192...

Contact Internet Provider to change or add an a compatible IP address.

[chazzster]

Did you ever get your note to connect?

[Mark72]

The solution below has been working for me for the past year. Sounds complicated but it really only took five minutes to install after buying a new USB wifi adapter for $25-$35.

In short, this solution has you set up a second wifi on your PC, using a USB wifi adapter you plug into your PC (not a new router or router range extender). You then connect this second wifi to your SkyTrak. The signal is strong to your skytrak, and there is no IP conflict.

Once you have installed, going forward, when you click on your wifi icon at the bottom right of your windows screen, you will see a drop down at the top of the list that lets you select between your normal "wifi" and "wifi 2". Clicking on either one will show the list of the wifi signals available to the selected wifi. You turn on your SkyTrak, then click the wifi icon at the bottom right of your Windows screen and selected "wifi 2" at the top. When a list of wifi signals appears, select SkyTrak once it appears. Before or after this, jump over to select your normal "wifi" and connect to your normal internal network; this will give you internet access while using SkyTrak. Before doing this you might want to do a hard reset of your SkyTrak to forget your previous wifi settings (by inserting a paper clip in the hole on the bottom of your skytrak - make sure it is on and you see three yellow lights).

Here are the instructions lifted and modified from another post…

PC currently has wifi. Bought another usb wifi for $25. Plugged in pc, installed drivers. Attached the skytrak wireless ssid to my 2nd wifi and it worked. Internet then didn't work, so next opened 'Network and Sharing Center'. 'Change adapter Settings'. For the adapter that was connected to skytrak, right click and select 'properties'. Uncheck 'IPv6', select 'IPv4' and click 'properties'

[on my PC, both IPv6 and IPv4 had already been marked as selected. After I unchecked IPV6, the "Properties" button was grayed out. It became usable if I unchecked and then rechecked IPV4].

Click 'advanced'. uncheck 'automatic metric' and put in the number two (2). Save your way out. Do the same for the other adapter [the entire process], but put in ' metric' of one (1).

What this does is tell your computer that when in doubt - use your internet connection (metric 1). the skytrak connection will always talk directly to the pc. It's working GREAT now!!! Hope this helps someone else as you all have helped me.

GOOD LUCK!

[weakhead]

I've done this too. Works well.

[JB3]

this is the only way I have ever played it. I also have two wifi dongles because my tower does not have wifi. 1 for network and 1 for skytrak

[golf612]

Just a follow up. I was elevated to Comcast wireless level two tech who basically said it was fine to just log in with credentials and change the IP to 192.168.0.1 and that should solve the issue. Interesting is the accidental fortune of that when I brought my Skytrak into work in order to trouble shoot it - it shockingly went successfully back into Direct Mode while at my house I was caught in what I found out just today was a "wifi loop". Skytrack is looking for a signal but the IP address is already taken by your main router - loops forever. If you are in a "wifi loop" then you need to remove (physically) yourself from you network OR maybe unplug your router to get the unit back into Direct Mode. A hard reset try DID NOT Work in my case. So you find yourself in a situation where you not only can't get into network mode but you're looped out of direct mode and you think you are in huge trouble. Not fun. Hopefully after changing the IP address on the router tonight all will be cool.

[Foutbol11]

Ive recently built a new simulator and have been dealing with the Xfinity/Comcast IP issue. I finally did find a work around that will allow The SkyTrak to connect wirelessly and the comp to also keep internet connection. Xfinity offers the little home pods to create a mesh network around your house. Those pods have a ethernet connection plug that will allow you to hardwire the comp straight to it like you would a normal router, bypassing the IP address issue. The best part is you don't need your internet or router in the room as your Sim, just one of the little pods. The trick Ive found is you have to leave the ethernet cable unplugged until The SkyTrak connects to the computers wifi and you open The SkyTrak app. Then plug in the cable, close The SkyTrak app and open TGC. works every time. Ive spent over a month dealing with SkyTrak and Comcast being told there's no way to fix it but I didn't want to listen. Ive been reading on here for over a month looking for help so I thought I would post how I did it. I know hardwiring isn't new but I did not have the option of having my internet in the basement where my Sim was setup. Hope this helps anyone still having an issue.

[Otto Dibeneditto]

I sent my Skytrak back I could not figure out the IP issue.
I have Xfinity and the Xpods. The only thing I do not have is Wi Fi on my PC. I use a Netgear Wi Fi extender.
Should i have Wi Fi installed on my PC and get an adaptor would that fix the IP adress issue. Any help would be great.
Thanks

[JJ62]

IF your computer works currently on the internet - I highly suggest buying another wifi adapter and using that to connect. I'm an IT person and it works great - basically your skytrak will talk directly to your pc which is very close and will have no issues. Following the instructions above, the extra wifi adapter will only talk to skytrak and your internal one will only talk to your wifi. When you go to select the wifi you want to connect to - you'll have 2 separate areas for each adapter - for the new wifi one - select the skytrak and tell it to connect automatically. Make the changes on your pc mentioned above and it will ALWAYS work!!! Those changes will force your 2nd adapter to use your first one for internet.....

[Osubucks999]

I’m getting ready to box mine up and send it back. It won’t stay connected for more than a few minutes.

[JJ62]

If you haven't sent it back yet - read what I posted above. I promise you it's the best way to run your skytrak.....

[Drew231506]

None of the above worked for me. I upgraded my internet with Xfinity and my router had 10.0 IP address. All you have to do is log into your router and change the IP address manually to a 192 IP address.

[Drew231506]

By the way I tried everything above. Including the WiFi extender and the little device that created additional WiFi from your cpu. Neither worked.