docs: document companion app roaming over the recovery AP

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Jared Dohrman
2026-08-09 18:41:54 +10:00
co-authored by Claude Fable 5
parent cfb4cc9bc6
commit f94229879f
2 changed files with 30 additions and 5 deletions
+24 -5
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@@ -293,8 +293,27 @@ Recovery steps:
retries the network with the new credentials
4. `reboot` (or just wait — see below)
While the AP is up the device keeps retrying its configured network in the
background; as soon as the station connection succeeds, the recovery AP shuts down
automatically (this also drops your rescue session — that's the sign it worked).
The MeshCore app can also reach the device through the AP on the usual companion
TCP port.
While the AP is up the device keeps retrying its configured network about once a
minute (expect a brief AP hiccup at each attempt); as soon as the station
connection succeeds, the recovery AP shuts down automatically (this also drops
your rescue session — that's the sign it worked).
### Using the Companion App over the AP (Roaming)
The recovery AP is not just for fixing credentials — the full companion protocol
is available through it, which makes it a roaming access mode when the device is
away from its configured network:
1. join `EastMesh-WiFi` with the pin-derived password (see the table above)
2. in the MeshCore companion app, add/connect a Wi-Fi device with host
`192.168.4.1` and port `5000`
3. use the app normally — messages, contacts, channels all work over the AP
Notes for roaming use:
- run `set pin <pin>` once so the AP password stays fixed across reboots;
otherwise devices with a screen pick a new random pin every boot
- the AP appears about 60 seconds after boot (the device tries its configured
network first), and stays up for as long as that network is unreachable
- back in range of its configured network, the device joins it and shuts the AP
down automatically — reconnect the app via the LAN address instead
+6
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@@ -71,9 +71,15 @@ releases:
- type: added
area: cli
text: "Exposed the rescue CLI over TCP port 23 on the recovery AP (`telnet 192.168.4.1`), so `set wifi.ssid`, `set wifi.pwd`, and `reboot` work without a serial cable."
- type: added
area: wifi
text: "The companion app works over the recovery AP too: connect to host `192.168.4.1` port `5000` for full app connectivity while roaming away from the configured network."
- type: added
area: wifi
text: "Gave companion WiFi builds the BLE-style device pin rules: displays show a per-session `Pin:NNNNNN` on the home screen, headless devices default to pin `123456` (AP password `00123456`), and `set pin` overrides both persistently."
- type: fixed
area: wifi
text: "Kept the recovery AP joinable by pausing constant station rescans while it is up (they broke joining clients' WPA2 handshakes, which phones report as a wrong password); the configured network is retried once a minute instead."
- type: changed
area: prefs
text: "Moved saved node settings to upstream's new key-based `prefs.json` format; existing settings, including persisted Wi-Fi credentials, are migrated automatically on first boot."