Troubleshooting

This page covers the things that most often surprise people running Stolo on iPhone, especially when a long-range radio is connected over Bluetooth. Each entry is written as symptom, cause, and fix.

Nearly everything here is normal behaviour with a short wait or a single step attached to it. For deeper administration topics — radio parameters, relay deployment, and the full settings reference — see the Administration Guide.

Starting up

The app says it isn't connected when you first open it

Symptom: for the first few seconds after launch, Stolo reports that it can't reach its backend, and nothing loads.

Cause. The app starts its radio engine — the part that actually runs the mesh — as it launches, and the interface waits for it. That normally takes up to about ten seconds. It takes longer when you have a radio configured but switched off, because the engine spends time looking for the radio before giving up on it for this session.

Fix. Wait. It resolves on its own. If the app is still reporting no connection after roughly half a minute, close it fully and reopen it as described below.

You need to restart the radio engine

Symptom: something has gone sideways — a setting isn't taking effect, or the app asks you to restart — and you're looking for a restart button.

Cause. On iPhone the engine runs inside the app itself, so there is no way to stop and start it separately. The in-app restart option will simply tell you to do it by hand.

Fix. Close Stolo completely — swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the app switcher, then swipe the Stolo card away — and open it again. That is the restart. Backgrounding the app or locking the phone is not the same thing.

Pairing a radio over Bluetooth

Pair from inside Stolo, never from iPhone Settings

Symptom: the radio doesn't appear in iPhone Settings → Bluetooth, or it appears and pairing from there fails.

Cause. iOS cannot pair this class of device from the Settings screen. The pairing has to be started by the app that will use the radio.

Fix. Put the radio in pairing mode, then in Stolo go to Add a connection → Bluetooth → Scan and pick your radio from the list. That is the only supported way to pair it.

The six-digit code flashed past, or never appeared

Symptom: you tap the radio in Stolo, and the code screen on the radio vanishes before you can read it — or the radio's screen never shows a code at all.

Cause. The radio's pairing window is short: about 35 seconds from the moment you put it into pairing mode. If the window closes, the pairing attempt goes nowhere.

Pairing succeeded, but the radio isn't carrying any traffic yet

Symptom: the radio shows as paired and connected, but messages don't move over it — and Stolo may be showing a notice asking you to restart.

Cause. A freshly paired radio sometimes needs the app to start up with it already in place before it is brought into the mesh.

Fix. Close Stolo fully (app switcher, swipe it away) and reopen it once. You only need to do this after the initial pairing, not every time.

Radio connection problems

A radio that used to work keeps dropping the connection

Symptom: the radio connects and then disconnects again within about a second, over and over. Stolo reports that the radio keeps dropping the connection.

Cause. The phone and the radio each store a record of their pairing, and the two records no longer agree — one side thinks they're paired and the other doesn't. The most common way this happens is re-flashing the radio's firmware, which wipes the pairings stored on the radio while your iPhone still holds its side.

Fix. Clear the stale pairing on both sides:

• On the iPhone, open Settings → Bluetooth. If the radio is listed, tap the info button next to it and choose Forget This Device.
• Power the radio off and on again.
• If it still refuses to stay connected, the pairings stored on the radio itself need clearing — put it back into pairing mode, and consult your radio's documentation for how to erase its saved pairings. Note that a plain power-cycle does not erase them.

Then pair again from inside Stolo, as above.

How long a radio takes to come back after being switched off

Symptom: you power the radio back on and it isn't connected yet.

Cause. Nothing is wrong — the radio has to finish booting before the phone can reach it, and that boot time is most of the wait.

Fix. Give it roughly 5 to 30 seconds; a paired radio reconnects by itself, with no action from you. The first time you try it, keep Stolo open on screen so you can watch the connection come back.

Radio range and interference

The link is weak even though the radios are close together

Symptom: two radios are only a short distance apart, but the link is poor or messages don't get through — while transmitting appears to work fine.

Cause. Phones, laptops, and USB-3 hubs throw off a surprising amount of electrical noise in the same band the radio listens on. It deafens the radio's receiver without affecting what it transmits, which is why one direction can look healthy while nothing arrives.

Fix. Give the radio room:

• Keep it a metre or more away from phones, laptops, and USB hubs.
• Run it on battery rather than powered from a computer where you can.
• If range is still poor, move the radio away from the noisy equipment before assuming the radio or the antenna is at fault.

Messaging

Messages don't get through right after both phones come online

Symptom: two people are both online, but early messages sit unsent or take a while to land.

Cause. The mesh has to work out a path between the two devices, and that settles a little after everyone is up rather than instantly.

Fix. Give it a few minutes before troubleshooting anything else. Routes generally sort themselves out, and messages sent in the meantime deliver once a path exists.

Still stuck?

If none of the above matches what you're seeing, reach us through the contact form on our website with your device model, your radio model, and what you saw on screen — that is usually enough for us to spot it.