Today my glowforge is taking forever to print. It keeps getting stuck focusing, scanning and auto focusing and the print head is not moving for the auto focus. I have cleaned the mirrors and restarted my browser as well as the glowforge multiple times. I was only able to make 3 cuts today at under 2 min each but spent about 2 hours just to get those 3 done.
Sounds like the signal is being dropped. Lots of things can cause it - sometimes your ISP will be having problems along the line and it just clears up once they get it squared away.
If you don’t normally have this problem, you can wait a while to see if it clears up by itself. Or you can try these suggestions from Support to see if you can narrow down the issue:
- If your Wi-Fi network includes several access points, it’s possible that your Glowforge needs to re-establish its connection whenever it ‘hops’ from one access point to another. As a test, you could try creating a dedicated access point for the Glowforge to see if that helps.
- Since Glowforge only uses the 2.4GHz frequency, a connection will be harder to establish and maintain on a crowded 2.4GHz network. Other devices using 2.4GHz, like cordless phones and microwaves, can cause interference and an unstable connection. You can consult your router settings to check the performance and traffic on your 2.4GHz network.
- In your network settings, check the channel you’re using for the 2.4GHz band. Trying a different channel may provide a more consistent connection.
- Though less common, DNS or name resolution conflicts may also cause intermittent connectivity problems. If you use a custom DNS configuration on your router, you might want to try default DNS settings to see if that works better.
If you’re still having trouble, there’s a test you can try that will help Support narrow down the problem. You can create a Wi-Fi hotspot with a cell phone and use that network to connect your Glowforge to Wi-Fi. It’s a good way to rule out signal interference, since you can set your phone right on top of your Glowforge.
You can find instructions online to help you create a Wi-Fi hotspot using a cell phone. Make sure that you set it up to be a 2.4 GHz hotspot, since that is the frequency your Glowforge uses.
Once the Wi-Fi hotspot is broadcasting, you can connect to it by following these steps:
- Turn on your Glowforge.
- Wait 30 seconds. Then hold down the button for ten seconds until it glows teal.
- Navigate to setup.glowforge.com and follow the instructions on-screen. When prompted to connect your Glowforge to Wi-Fi, choose the hotspot you created.
- Once Wi-Fi setup is complete, go to app.glowforge.com and try a few prints.
I’d also try clearing the browser and cache. (Because sometimes that sticks.)
Let them know what you find.
2 Likes
I’m sorry to hear about the trouble. I’ve taken a look at the logs from your Glowforge to investigate, and it does appear that the printer is having difficulty downloading information successfully when calibrating or preparing prints. First I suggest working through the steps that @Jules suggested above (thank you, @Jules!), which should help rule out any common network issues that might be interfering with normal operation. Let me know how it goes.
1 Like
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.