Setting up a TRMNL on tricky Wi-Fi situations

Most Wi-Fi networks are relatively simple and work without a hitch. This article is not about those. This article is about more complicated Wi-Fi setups. We tested three devices in three different scenarios. Hopefully they will help you. If you've tried the steps in these guides and they haven't worked for you, please email us at support@usetrmnl.com or chat us so that we can investigate.

The three non-standard scenarios are:

We're going to recommend travel routers in this article. They're surely not the only travel routers that work for these scenarios, but they are the only ones we have tested ourselves.

None of the links here are referral links.

Note: some offices frown on third-party routers in their networks. Please check with your local network administrator or IT person to make sure you're allowed to do this.

Sometimes, there's a corporate environment where, say, your cell phone connects just fine to the network, but the TRMNL doesn't. Maybe you get the "WiFi connected but can't connect to the API" message. In that case, we suspect there's some corporate network security that, for whatever reason, just doesn't play nicely with TRMNLs. We've had at least one report where a user bought this device, connected THAT device to the network, and then connected the TRMNL to it.

For this scenario, the Opal (GL-SFT1200) Wireless Travel Router worked. It's $35 at the time of writing.

Follow the travel router's instructions to set it up. These are, roughly, plug it in, connect to it's broadcast network (starts with GL), and connect to it with the default password goodlife. Then, visit http://192.168.8.1/ (or whatever your router manual said). You might see a NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID error. This error is safe to ignore because the connection to your router is local. Here is an article on the subject if you'd like to learn more.

You will then have the router act as a repeater for the network you want to use. From this point forward, what you do depends on if you connect your travel router via Ethernet cable to the source network or not. We'll start with wireless, since that's more complicated.

Connect to the travel router's network. It starts with GL.

Then, click the "Connect" button in the "Repeater" block.

Select your WiFi network from the list.

Enter the password and connect.

It might take a few minutes, but your travel router is now connected to the internet. To verify, ensure you're still connected to the travel router's network (starts with GL). Try to use the internet. We suggest https://usetrmnl.com/. If the page loads, you're good to go.

If you plug an Ethernet cable into your travel router, it should just work. You should be able to point the TRMNL straight at the travel router's network (starts with GL) to get it up and running.

You can now set your TRMNL up like normal by following the guide at
​https://help.usetrmnl.com/en/articles/9416306-how-to-set-up-a-new-device. Be sure to use your travel router's network (starts with GL) as the SSID.

TRMNLs can't natively connect to WiFi networks that require usernames and passwords (AKA WPA/WPA-2 Enterprise WiFi), but there are travel routers that can connect to those networks on your behalf and broadcast a password-only network that your TRMNL can connect to.

We've tested two routers that work for this scenario. Which one you'll need depends on if the WPA/WPA-2 Enterprise network is 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

Hold the option key and click the WiFi icon in the top right of your screen. Look for the line item called "Channel".

Open Settings > Network & Internet > Properties and select your network. The "Properties" info block will show you if it's a 2.4GHz or 5GHz network.

Connect to the travel router's network. It starts with GL. The default password is goodlife, or whatever the manual says.

Then, click the "Connect" button in the "Repeater" block.

Select your WiFi network from the list.

When clicking the network, you should be prompted to enter a username and password. Enter them. If you aren't prompted for a username and password here, reach out to us so we can troubleshoot. support@usetrmnl.com.

It might take a few minutes, but your travel router is now connected to the internet. To verify, ensure you're still connected to the travel router's network (starts with GL). Try to use the internet. We suggest https://usetrmnl.com/. If the page loads, you're good to go.

You can now set your TRMNL up like normal by following the guide at
​https://help.usetrmnl.com/en/articles/9416306-how-to-set-up-a-new-device. Be sure to use your travel router's network (starts with GL) as the SSID.

A captive portal is a popup when that appears before you can use the network that requires you to accept some terms. You see them most often in hotels and coffee shops. TRMNL uses a captive portal to assist in setup. These handy travel routers can help you through those situations, too. Never be without your TRMNL again—even at hotels!

We've tested two routers that work for this scenario. Which one you'll need depends on if the WPA/WPA-2 Enterprise network is 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

Hold the option key and click the WiFi icon in the top right of your screen. Look for the line item called "Channel".

Open Settings > Network & Internet > Properties and select your network. The "Properties" info block will show you if it's a 2.4GHz or 5GHz network.

Connect to the travel router's network. It starts with GL. The default password is goodlife, or whatever the manual says.

Then, click the "Connect" button in the "Repeater" block.

Select your WiFi network from the list.

Wait for the captive portal to appear. Sometimes leaving and rejoining the travel router's network will force the portal to appear. On Apple devices, visiting https://captive.apple.com/ will also force the portal to appear.

Captive portals look something like this:

Do whatever the captive portal tells you to access the internet. Your travel router is now through the captive portal and should remain so until the router is powered off or until the guest network renews its DHCP leases. Note that captive portal owners can configure their networks so that these travel routers can't bypass them in this way. If that happens to you, please email us at support@usetrmnl.com or chat us so we can note that in this article.

You can now set your TRMNL up like normal by following the guide at https://help.usetrmnl.com/en/articles/9416306-how-to-set-up-a-new-device. Be sure to use your travel router's network (starts with GL) as the SSID.

TRMNL devices can only connect to 2.4GHz networks. However, the 5GHz travel routers appear to be able to take a 5GHz signal and rebroadcast it as 2.4GHz. So, this setup should work even if you only have access to 5GHz networks.

Your mileage may vary with travel routers not in this article, but surely others work as well. Here's what you should look for: