Wall charger WiFi needed?

[Move]

After about 30 attempts over 2 days, I finally got my wall charger to connect to WiFi and completed the setup. In order to get it to work, I had to create a guest account with no spaces, temporarily turn off 5ghz and move one of the mesh points practically next to the outside wall where the charger sits. Even after these changes it still took multiple attempts and I really didn’t believe that it was connected at the end, it was. So my question here, I fully intend to move my mesh router back to its original location, does it matter if my wall charger never connects to WiFi again? I was able to use it to charge my R1S before it was configured and it was drawing 11.4kwh. The details in the charger don’t seem to really be worth checking on to justify having it connected to WiFi.

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[ElGuapo]

Short answer. No. It doesn’t need WiFi. It will charge perfectly fine, as you note.

They could update its firmware, it’s unlikely to do anything you NEED unless you want to monitor it in some way.

 

[Move]

Thank you!

 

[GA_Rivian]

I'm in a similar situation. Rivian charger will be 100' from house in a shed with no wifi. I will have to put a wifi access point outside on a cable to configure but it would still be 100' from the shed. That's ok for a software update, *if* it will connect.

 

[solaskaze]

After about 30 attempts over 2 days, I finally got my wall charger to connect to WiFi and completed the setup. In order to get it to work, I had to create a guest account with no spaces, temporarily turn off 5ghz and move one of the mesh points practically next to the outside wall where the charger sits. Even after these changes it still took multiple attempts and I really didn’t believe that it was connected at the end, it was. So my question here, I fully intend to move my mesh router back to its original location, does it matter if my wall charger never connects to WiFi again? I was able to use it to charge my R1S before it was configured and it was drawing 11.4kwh. The details in the charger don’t seem to really be worth checking on to justify having it connected to WiFi.

Does it matter/is it mandatory? No. Yes, you want it though : 1) Firmware updates 2) The car has exactly zero logs on charging details (ask me how I know) when there’s an issue. The wall charger does: so WiFi access helps when things go wrong.
To solve , have a 2.4 GHz cheap access point devoted to the charger : range is fine, and you don’t have to mess with your mesh. Connect that unit to your mesh hub .

 

[GA_Rivian]

Does it matter/is it mandatory? No. Yes, you want it though : 1) Firmware updates 2) The car has exactly zero logs on charging details (ask me how I know) when there’s an issue. The wall charger does: so WiFi access helps when things go wrong.
To solve , have a 2.4 GHz cheap access point devoted to the charger : range is fine, and you don’t have to mess with your mesh. Connect that unit to your mesh hub .

How do you know ?
Does the charger have any storage capability? Or does it just upload stuff to Rivian? My SolarEdge inverter stores 2-3 weeks worth of instantaneous data that it uploads when the connection comes back live if the power goes off.
My charger is ~100' from the house in a shed, so installing a cheap AP there is non-trivial. Right now we have only one AP in the house.

 

[Rav_ian]

After about 30 attempts over 2 days, I finally got my wall charger to connect to WiFi and completed the setup. In order to get it to work, I had to create a guest account with no spaces, temporarily turn off 5ghz and move one of the mesh points practically next to the outside wall where the charger sits. Even after these changes it still took multiple attempts and I really didn’t believe that it was connected at the end, it was. So my question here, I fully intend to move my mesh router back to its original location, does it matter if my wall charger never connects to WiFi again? I was able to use it to charge my R1S before it was configured and it was drawing 11.4kwh. The details in the charger don’t seem to really be worth checking on to justify having it connected to WiFi.

I made all of these same adjustments, but my charger STILL will not connect to my WiFi. It's incredibly frustrating. Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[Neuneleven]

I made all of these same adjustments, but my charger STILL will not connect to my WiFi. It's incredibly frustrating. Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions?

might not be what you want to hear but: It's a charger. I use mine without any wifi connection, it has never established a connection to my Orbi mesh system. While I might be missing some features, controlling from the truck has worked perfectly fine for all these months. So well in fact, that I have no desire to connect it wifi or find work arounds.

 

[godfodder0901]

I made all of these same adjustments, but my charger STILL will not connect to my WiFi. It's incredibly frustrating. Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions?

Make sure the face plate plug is connected.

 

[Rav_ian]

might not be what you want to hear but: It's a charger. I use mine without any wifi connection, it has never established a connection to my Orbi mesh system. While I might be missing some features, controlling from the truck has worked perfectly fine for all these months. So well in fact, that I have no desire to connect it wifi or find work arounds.

It was my understanding that the charger won't work unless it connects to WiFi at least once for the initial set-up. Is that not the case? If the WiFi is not necessary, I would love to know how to get the charger to work without it. As of now, when I plug the charger into the vehicle, it does not charge. The light just stays white and doesn't turn green. Apologies if this is a silly question. This is my first EV!

 

[Rav_ian]

Make sure the face plate plug is connected.

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Can you please clarify?

 

[godfodder0901]

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Can you please clarify?

There is a cable that attaches the front plate to the main board in the charger. MANY electricians and DIYers forget to connect it when putting the face plate on.

 

[Rav_ian]

There is a cable that attaches the front plate to the main board in the charger. MANY electricians and DIYers forget to connect it when putting the face plate on.

This was exactly the problem! Thank you SO MUCH!

 

[godfodder0901]

This was exactly the problem! Thank you SO MUCH!

Happy to help!

 

[Neuneleven]

It was my understanding that the charger won't work unless it connects to WiFi at least once for the initial set-up. Is that not the case? If the WiFi is not necessary, I would love to know how to get the charger to work without it. As of now, when I plug the charger into the vehicle, it does not charge. The light just stays white and doesn't turn green. Apologies if this is a silly question. This is my first EV!

interesting. MIne has never successfully connected to home wifi and had no uploads.
Troubleshooting from a different point, see if it would connect thorugh your phone at least initially then work without wifi - I had issues with the kid's play station which would intermittently not work with the home mesh but connected to our phones. Solved this by purchasing a bridge with dedicated 2.4 and 5mHz channel and connected the PS5 to the bridge and it has remained stable. just a couple of thoughts

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