I do love the glowforge but I spend so much time locked up in scanning, centering etc with nothing happening. The GFU locked up while I am setting things up to print 50 percent of the time.
I understand it’s internet issues in most cases…but hey…EVERYTHING ELSE IS WORKING.
With limited time to work with my glowforge …I am not getting out of it what I really need out of it.
The router is close, the computer is close…I’ve done everything I can do. I don’t run anything else when the glowforge is on.
Will this machine work with a virtual server? Has anyone tried that?
There is a conversation between the laser and the cloud when you turn it on. It goes something like this;
From the parked position the machine sends the head in the direction of the lid camera. (Weather that is directed by the machine or the server I don’t know)
The camera images the position of the head and sends that to the server.
The server sees that and calculates the steps to get the head closer, and sends that to the machine.
The machine responds and moves the head as directed, images the bed again and sends that to the server.
The server again sends direction to the machine.
The machine completes the instruction, images the bed again and sends that up.
This continues until the logo on the head is directly below the camera.
At this point the server knows the exact position of the head.
The head slides all the way to the left, and the gantry moves a fraction forward and another image is sent up. The server responds and the gantry moves a fraction back, image sent up.
At this point the machine and the cloud are synced, and the server directs the head back to the upper left starting position.
Any interference in that relay and the calibration fails.
I’m no authority on signal strength, but I know that just because I’m able to type this out and send it doesn’t necessarily mean that my connection has the integrity to operate the glowforge.
Have you tried creating a hot spot on your phone? You might check the operation that way against the machine’s performance with your WiFi.
It would be terribly frustrating to be constantly hung up in calibrating.
The biggest problem I ever had with WiFi was due to using a combination modem/WiFi router. It wasn’t a cheap unit either. It was solved by buying a$25 stand-alone WiFi router and connecting that downstream of the modem.
I have wasted so much time. I should have more of it because I’m retired but somehow that did not work out for me. It just seemed like such a simple job to me…it took me all freaking day and I still have two left. The machine was seriously not MOVING…I left it working for and hour and when I came back it was still spinning.
I guess I need to get IT to come to the home office and check out the router etc. Maybe the AFB or these other Government buildings are interfering with the continuity of the signal?
Now I’m really concerned about it working when we move because there is only satellite in that area.
You have illegitimate reason to cry!
I personally have little patience with a device that refuses to cooperate, I’ve been known to turn them into sub-assemblies with a couple of swift movements, just for the limited satisfaction of being done with the obstinence.
Again, I have no idea, but I think the possibility exists.
From your description, my best guess is it is connection related.
So you are not using a combination modem/WiFi router?
McKinzy, didn’t you just post recently about cable construction going on in your neck of the woods? Pretty good chance that’s what’s affecting it, and the problem will clear up once they stabilize things on their end.
I went through a six month period of construction nearby where it could cut out unexpectedly. Rebooting everything generally fixed it. But sometimes I had to wait for a few hours until they got things squared away. Then it would work when it was turned back on.
Once a signal gets dropped and it gets hung up, go ahead and try rebooting everything. (Say, after about 15 minutes or so.) I believe it is going to stay hung up until it is rebooted, so there’s no reason to wait for it to finish for an hour.
The easiest thing here would be to set up your phone as a hotspot and connect the Glowforge to that. And just leave your phone sitting on or next to the Glowforge. This will help isolate issues with your current network set up and make it easier to solve what is going on.
That just seems so weird that my phone would be more stable. But …I will try it. I did switch my connection to my husband’s shop and it seems to be working better.
Back in my gaming days, just after I bought the Motorola combination modem I was experiencing connection issues periodically. Upon the recommendation from a friend who was a network wizard, I bought the cheap TP Link wifi router. I haven’t had an issue in the last 4+ years.
The moral is that not all Combo modems sport the best wifi.
Yes there was…but nothing stays “down” in this area for long unless there is trouble at the AFB.
The cable company claimed all good. But of course you never know…
I think I am feeling the pain on working on the cloud. It’s like working on a virtual machine ( yuK). We can do taxes even when the internet is down…we might not be able to transmit to the IRS until it’s fixed but we have always been able to complete jobs.
I’m not feeling the cloud but I have never liked the cloud …not just in relation to glowforge.
Does it seem like you only hear from me when I’m whining? lol
