Stoker Wifi

wicket03

I have a first gen stoker wifi that was given to me by my wife a few years back.  Its been a good device.  About 6 months ago we moved and got a new router with a longer range(Asus nighthawk or something) and i dont know if its the router, where we moved to(other people's internet), or the stoker.  But it'll stay connected for about 3-4 hours, then disconnect from Wifi. It keeps working, just loses its connection. I then have to turn it off and turn it back on to get it re-connected.  Im turning to you knowledgeable people to pick your brains a bit.  

chadpsualum

Mine only does that (sometimes) when I put the 3min fan pause on.  That seems to cause the connection to fail which (as you said) requires a reboot to reestablish. 

jimithing

This is kind of hard to answer.  If I had to guess I'd look at you router configuration.  The Stoker uses a 2.4 GHz adapter and I'm guessing your router is a newer version that supports 5.0 and 2.4.  Check your 2.4 settings and see if there's an option for channel bandwidth option.  If there is one and it's set to auto I would try changing it to 20 Mhz.  Try that on your next cook and see if it fixes the problem.

If the problem persists then I'd go in and look for the control channel option.  If it's set to auto try picking something out of the drop down.  Use one of the options towards the bottom.  It's possible that your router is changing channels because of other wireless networks around you and the stoker isn't changing channels with it.

Thecoiman

@jimithing mine seems to lose connection all the time. I have pretty numch given up trying see the graph of temp changes since it the stoker disconnects 3 or more time a cook. But I will try check my router for settings

Laserlarry

Changing to a different channel on our wifi at work fixed our unexpected lost connnect problem. Good advice jimithingt

lkapigian

I regret buying my Stoker simply because if your not tech savvy, getting the WiFi remote monitoring is a pain. I have plenty of devises that are far easier to get up and running, Stoker set up is not user friendly IMHO nor is there liturature. There videos are not even current to the new model...my rant

4Runner

@lkapigian - I'll gladly walk you through it if you like.  It's just opening and webpage, entering some values, rebooting and you are off and running.  PM me if you like.  

@wicket03 - as a test, can you plug that wireless adapter into something else and see if it drops off the network?  I'm thinking it is the wireless adapter dropping and bringing the stoker with it.  

DoubleEgger

Same thing happens to me. The wifi disconnects, the unit stops working and the fire goes out. I gave up on the wifi portion and just use it "regular". 

4Runner

wifi and the stoker working are separate issues.  Again, I have had 3 gen of Stokers and all worked fine.  Leads me to believe it is your network with the Stoker. 

GregW

lkapigian said:

I regret buying my Stoker simply because if your not tech savvy, getting the WiFi remote monitoring is a pain. I have plenty of devises that are far easier to get up and running, Stoker set up is not user friendly IMHO nor is there liturature. There videos are not even current to the new model...my rant

No doubt. The wireless in the first generation seems to be problematic for a lot of people, myself included.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the wireless isn't worth the trouble.
I either don't monitor at all or if its a really important cook I drag an Ethernet cable out the window and hard wire the Stoker to the router.

DoubleEgger

4Runner said:

wifi and the stoker working are separate issues.  Again, I have had 3 gen of Stokers and all worked fine.  Leads me to believe it is your network with the Stoker. 

All I can speak to is my experience with the unit. The wifi quits and the blower stops working. The unit reads the temps but won't make the adjustments required to maintain temp. 

lkapigian

@4Runner , I appreciate that.I can't even get the browser up unless connected via Ethernet and I confirmed the IP, I called Rocks, but only 1of them there is technically capable and he wasn't in. This is the new version.I actually paid someone to get it going the first time.I'm not concerned with monitoring at home on an app, I want to use it Via internet.When it works it's great. I simply just use it manually now, 

DoubleEgger

^^^ I can't believe someone actually answered the phone at Rocks. 

lkapigian

@DoubleEgger , agreed, I've left my share of messages and emails...it's a solidly built unit , and for the price it should be plug and play...it reminds me of DOS platform 

DMW

lkapigian said:

@DoubleEgger , agreed, I've left my share of messages and emails...it's a solidly built unit , and for the price it should be plug and play...it reminds me of DOS platform 

DOS didn't have a TCP/IP stack

lkapigian

DMW said:

lkapigian said:

@DoubleEgger , agreed, I've left my share of messages and emails...it's a solidly built unit , and for the price it should be plug and play...it reminds me of DOS platform 

DOS didn't have a TCP/IP stack

I was being sarcastic...not even sure what a tcpip stack is, but that's my point...some do,and my issues are a no brainer for others...cheers my friend 

DMW

lkapigian said:

DMW said:

lkapigian said:

@DoubleEgger , agreed, I've left my share of messages and emails...it's a solidly built unit , and for the price it should be plug and play...it reminds me of DOS platform 

DOS didn't have a TCP/IP stack

I was being sarcastic...not even sure what a tcpip stack is, but that's my point...some do,and my issues are a no brainer for others...cheers my friend 

I'm just joking around. Yes, the Stoker is not the most user friendly Wifi controller on the market, Flamboss 200 would surely win that award.

If you want a controller you can link up to a Linux server to control it and log your cooks (Stoker-Web https://github.com/gbak/stoker-web) and have access to it via telnet and generally like to geek out without having to build it yourself (HeaterMeter), then the Stoker fits the bill.

4Runner

lkapigian said:

@4Runner , I appreciate that.I can't even get the browser up unless connected via Ethernet and I confirmed the IP, I called Rocks, but only 1of them there is technically capable and he wasn't in. This is the new version.I actually paid someone to get it going the first time.I'm not concerned with monitoring at home on an app, I want to use it Via internet.When it works it's great. I simply just use it manually now, 

Offers still stands.  It is very easy.  I'm not technical and got all of mine working. 

4Runner

DoubleEgger said:

4Runner said:

wifi and the stoker working are separate issues.  Again, I have had 3 gen of Stokers and all worked fine.  Leads me to believe it is your network with the Stoker. 

All I can speak to is my experience with the unit. The wifi quits and the blower stops working. The unit reads the temps but won't make the adjustments required to maintain temp. 

Me too.  Wifi I'm pretty sure is on your side.  The other thing sounds like water damage. Send it back to Rocks and they will replace it parts for cheap.  That happened to me. 

4Runner

GregW said:

lkapigian said:

I regret buying my Stoker simply because if your not tech savvy, getting the WiFi remote monitoring is a pain. I have plenty of devises that are far easier to get up and running, Stoker set up is not user friendly IMHO nor is there liturature. There videos are not even current to the new model...my rant

No doubt. The wireless in the first generation seems to be problematic for a lot of people, myself included.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the wireless isn't worth the trouble.
I either don't monitor at all or if its a really important cook I drag an Ethernet cable out the window and hard wire the Stoker to the router.

Actually the first gen isn't wifi.  You have to add an adapter which adds another variable to the equation.  

GregW

My Stoker is the first one to come with the built in Wifi antenna. The previous generation to the current.

sancho65

 I will be following this thread,  I am having some of the same problems.

4Runner

I'm willing to help.  I have had all 3 gen Stoker units on my network without issue so either it is a configuration issue, a stoker unit issue , or a network issue it is specific to you in someway.  That is my best assessment from retreading the threads and my experience thus far.  PM as needed.  

chadpsualum

DoubleEgger said:

4Runner said:

wifi and the stoker working are separate issues.  Again, I have had 3 gen of Stokers and all worked fine.  Leads me to believe it is your network with the Stoker. 

All I can speak to is my experience with the unit. The wifi quits and the blower stops working. The unit reads the temps but won't make the adjustments required to maintain temp. 

That seems odd doesn't it?  I wonder why that is.  The wifi connection/web interface is just meant to send setpoints to the Stoker, right?  If you get disconnected, shouldn't your setpoint(s) still be stored in the Stoker and if that's true, the fan/controller should still work.  You just won't have information being thrown back to any data acquisition software.

DoubleEgger

chadpsualum said:

DoubleEgger said:

4Runner said:

wifi and the stoker working are separate issues.  Again, I have had 3 gen of Stokers and all worked fine.  Leads me to believe it is your network with the Stoker. 

All I can speak to is my experience with the unit. The wifi quits and the blower stops working. The unit reads the temps but won't make the adjustments required to maintain temp. 

That seems odd doesn't it?  I wonder why that is.  The wifi connection/web interface is just meant to send setpoints to the Stoker, right?  If you get disconnected, shouldn't your setpoint(s) still be stored in the Stoker and if that's true, the fan/controller should still work.  You just won't have information being thrown back to any data acquisition software. 



I don't know much about how it's supposed to operate. All I can say is that I've ruined a couple of overnight cooks with it. I almost lost a SRF brisket because of it. I'd trust leaving a puppy in the house alone all day over a Stoker....

chadpsualum

DoubleEgger said:

I'd trust leaving a puppy in the house alone all day over a Stoker....

That's funny.  Hopefully I don't end up with the same issues as I can see ruining an overnight cook leaving a bad taste in my mouth...especially an SRF Brisket.

wicket03

well i never thought about hard wiring the sucker.  Can an ethernet cable be let outside in the elements? Ill try what others suggested and pick a different channel...but as a back up i like the ethernet idear.

4Runner

Yes.  It will be fine. 

4Runner

chadpsualum said:

DoubleEgger said:

4Runner said:

wifi and the stoker working are separate issues.  Again, I have had 3 gen of Stokers and all worked fine.  Leads me to believe it is your network with the Stoker. 

All I can speak to is my experience with the unit. The wifi quits and the blower stops working. The unit reads the temps but won't make the adjustments required to maintain temp. 

That seems odd doesn't it?  I wonder why that is.  The wifi connection/web interface is just meant to send setpoints to the Stoker, right?  If you get disconnected, shouldn't your setpoint(s) still be stored in the Stoker and if that's true, the fan/controller should still work.  You just won't have information being thrown back to any data acquisition software.

That is my experience.  No WiFi needed.   My white stoker started doing odd things like the fan would either stop or just run constantly.  Sent it to Rocks and they said water had damaged some of the internal components. $30 later and they had replaced a bunch of stuff and sent it back to. Still runs good today.  

lkapigian

@4runner, I may hit you up--right now I just use it as is which is probably good as you really don't need to obsess over it--To the others with issues like the fab not working, that really should have nothing to do with the WiFi as everything is stored in the Stoker

4Runner

I'm here.