myRIO and PC Randomly Lose Connection

Updated Apr 14, 2023

Reported In

Hardware

  • myRIO Student Embedded Device
  • myRIO-1950
  • myRIO-1900

Software

  • LabVIEW
  • LabVIEW Real-Time Module

Issue Details

I have a myRIO device that is creating its own Wi-Fi network. I am connecting to this network with my computer, and I'm losing the connection at random times. I get a message in LabVIEW saying: Waiting for the target to respond. Why can this happen and how do I solve it?

Solution

1. Have the myRIO close to your computer. Check if the connection is stable when there are just few inches of separation between the myRIO and your host PC.

 

2. Make sure your firewall is turned off. Usually myRIO connections will be detected as public networks by the Windows Firewall. This configuration continuously blocks programs to access the WiFi resource, and makes the connection process instable as it is continuously interrupted by the software.

 

3. Try setting your myRIO's wireless configuration as static. You will also need to set your WiFi adapter's IP to static and make sure the subnet mask is the same (usually 255.255.255.0), and the IP is different for the last digit (for example: 192.254.1.X, where X is different for the myRIO, and the computer). More information on how to change your computer's adapter configuration, here: External Link: How to set a static IP address in Windows.

 

4. Run LabVIEW as Administrator. The administrator mode allows the software to bypass some firewalls and blocking that the operating system has, which make the WiFi connection slower. To do this, right click over the LabVIEW software and select Run as Administrator.

 

5. Make sure there is no anti-virus or additional firewall enabled in your computer, as they might be blocking the program for establishing a consistent connection with the device.

 

6. Try connecting with other computer to verify if the problem relates to the software in the host machine, or the WiFi environment itself.

7.  If step 1 to step 6 still do not solve the issue. As a workaround, you may try connect myRIO via external Wi-Fi network using wireless Access Point/Router instead of using myRIO hotspot. If possible, please use Wireless Access Pointer/Router with 802.11 N standard  and avoid anything 802.11 AC standard for better connection.

Additional Information

Disconnections can happen because of multiple reasons, and they rely on the quality of the wireless communication. It can be considerably affected by external factors such as wireless noise from multiple devices, microwave ovens, etc. Inherently wireless devices are subject to more packet loss than wired.