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Connect your Device to Terminus (BYOS)

How to use the TRMNL WiFi Captive Portal to connect to a BYOS solution, like Terminus, rather than usetrmnl.com

Mario avatar
Written by Mario
Updated this week

Step 1 - Turn your Device On

Flip the power switch to ON from the back of your TRMNL device. After it wakes up and blinks a few times, your screen might look something like this:

If nothing happens when you turn on the device, the battery may be drained. In this case, plug TRMNL in with the included USB-C cable (if part of your order) and restart your device using the OFF/ON switch on the back.

Step 2 - Connect to WiFi

As the device screen says, use your phone or a nearby computer to find and connect to the WiFi network named "TRMNL," which will broadcast from your turned-on device.

After connecting, a WiFi portal will appear (your WiFi credentials are never sent to our servers).

Click Advanced > Custom Server > Yes to expose the URI for your BYOS server.

Add the full path to your server as set up and displayed in the Terminus Dashboard.

It is important that you do not include a trailing slash:
GOOD: http://192.168.0.2:2300
BAD: http://192.68.0.2:2300/

Once entered, click Back to Wi-Fi, select your SSID, and enter your network password. Finally, click Connect to complete setup by sending these credentials to your device.

Troubleshooting

For suggestions to fix a few rare issues, see our troubleshooting guide.

Step 3 - Device Registration

If all information is correct, your device will register with Terminus and display the following message, or something similar, on the screen:

Congratulations, you're ready to configure the device in Terminus!

Switching From BYOS to Usetrmnl.com

If you have configured your device as above, but want to switch back to usetrmnl.com as your server, you will need to follow a few steps.

  1. Hold the button on the back of your device (OG model) for 5 seconds to enter WiFi Pairing mode again.

  2. Reconnect to the TRMNL SSID and, under Advanced, perform a Soft Reset.

  3. When the device restarts, follow the normal setup guide.

Note: If the portal still shows an API Server URL, you should clear that field completely before clicking Connect. When blank, it defaults to TRMNL's server.

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