Network help and shot registration tips, tricks, and help

[Tekbud]

Just wanted to consolidate and share some information that I've read in various areas of the site which helped me greatly of late.

I'd used the skytrak for some time connected via USB. About a month ago i was moving the device and didn't realize that the cord was pinched under my mat and as I'm moving it the cord caught and pulled the device out of my hands onto the concrete below. I do have the protective shield on it but I'm sure these things aren't made to tumble onto concrete. My heart sank as the unit powered itself off. When I powered it on, nothing would connect, not TGC, not the skytrak app, not JPNG. Then I realized that the mini-usb was the issue because if I push the plug slightly toward the back of the device it will charge via usb. However it will not connect to the pc over usb. So, I decided to give network mode a shot.

For the past month network mode has been a major PITA. Multiple times in a round the device would disconnect from the game, lock up, or slow down to a crawl where a shot takes 15-20 seconds to show on the screen. I had a friend over this past weekend and those issues, plus many of my shots wouldn't register in the game at all. Really took the fun out of the day.

Enough was enough so I scoured all of the posts on this site and decided that I was going to fix this problem for good, or send it into Skytrak for repair (I'll miss you skytrak). Well, I'm happy to say that after a few hours I've now played 3 consecutive rounds (1 in tourney and 2 rounds at Royal Troon TGC 2016 - and if you haven't played this course yet and own TGC put down what you are doing and DO THIS RIGHT NOW!) Here's what I did to fix:

Network:

Set device so that it doesn't get a new IP address on your router basically turning off DHCP - for me on my Asus router I had to figure out which of my devices was the skytrak but turning it off, looking at the list of devices connected over wireless, then turning on the skytrak and waiting for it to connect, then I see new device which I can now label as "Skytrak" in the router, and setting to "Manual" instead of DHCP.

Turning off 5ghz on router. Skytrak doesn't support this and none of my devices were using it anyway, so I just turned it off.

Changing the channel on the wireless advanced page to 1, instead of auto.

Changing the network mode to Legacy instead of Auto. Skytrak may support N not sure and skygolf support couldn't help me answer this. Maybe Seth SkyTrak_Seth can answer this.

I'm not exactly sure which one fixed my issue - i think that the 5ghz thing may have been the culprit or maybe the channel change. Anyway, no disconnects last 3 rounds at all when before I was getting 5-10 per round.

Shot registration:

As I mentioned above I realized playing with my friend that something was different with me vs. with him as he only had one shot not register through entire round. I had MANY tee shots not registering. That made me think it must be a camera thing - and sure enough I had changed my tee height to a shorter tee recently so that had to be the issue. I placing the tee about a half inch to the right (away from screen) and presto - no more shots not registering.

Hopefully these things help somebody in the future. It's frustrating AND embarrassing when this stuff happens, especially when you have people over to see this "GREAT NEW GEAR" and it doesn't work... If anyone has any other Network or shot registration tips and tricks add them here and maybe we could get this one stickied to help out the masses.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

We haven't had a chance to test extenders yet...what brand is yours? Is it possible it is setup as a guest network? Also, the steps for the middle light are:

1) Blinking red - looking for known network
2) Blink yellow - found known network and trying to connect
3a) Solid yellow - connected successfully to network
3b) Back to solid red - Something didn't allow connection (usually incorrect SSID or password entered, but in your case, wondering if it is just the extender)

[jjkoolman]

The extender is a Netgear AC1200, model EX6150. I've recently run an ethernet cable out to the extender to connect it directly to my router and set it up as an access point and still no changes. The SkyTrak never goes to yellow blinking or otherwise, which is why I think it's the extender. I'm fairly good with networking things being it was my minor in college, but that was a long time ago and lots has changed since then, but the only thing I can come up with is that the extender is not supported. Thanks for your help Seth.

[colinjm18]

i had to set up another network on my skytrak as the extender was (network name)_ext and it worked fine after that

[jjkoolman]

SkyTrak_Seth Seth, do you know of any compatible extenders at this time that I could replace my current one with? If not do you know a time-frame for support for extenders? I can be patient if it's down the road, but if it's a couple years away, I'd like to find another solution. Thanks!

[SkyTrak_Seth]

I don't personally, but let me check on that. I know we did some testing with extenders at some point, albeit limited.

[jjkoolman]

SkyTrak_Seth - just wondering if you've found anything out on compatible extenders or if I should ask santa for a more powerful router to reach my garage, since I'm still unable to get the skytrak to connect to my current extender. Thanks!

[SkyTrak_Seth]

Actually, I just set up a SkyTrak system locally using a NetGear extender yesterday - worked perfectly! Just make sure you are connecting to the 2G network and have removed any special characters in the network name. I made sure to have the iPad "forget" the 5G network just to avoid any confusion down the road as well.

[jjkoolman]

Thanks for the update SkyTrak_Seth was wondering if you were busy working a new release and thats why you haven't been in the forum!! I think I will just have to try a different extender or use an old router as an access point, since I can not for the life of me get the SkyTrak to connect to this extenders 2g network no matter what I name it. Thanks for your help on this.

[SkyTrak_Seth]

That's usually where I am if I'm away That's really strange, I'd be curious to see the results of a different extender.

[Scyukon]

SkyTrak_Seth will upcoming versions of the software or firmware in play as of December 26, 2016 be able to work with the 5G network? Otherwise, I need to find a network expert who can help me dial down my system to 2.4Ghz. Thanks!