Connect via Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is the recommended method to connect Enroute Flight Navigation to your traffic data receiver. Compared with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi connections are reliable, hassle-free and work automatically with minimal setup.

One-time Setup

Step 0: Before You Connect

Before you try to connect this app to your traffic receiver, make sure that the following conditions are met.

  • Your traffic receiver has an integrated Wi-Fi interface that acts as a wireless access point.

  • You know the network name (=SSID) of the Wi-Fi network deployed by your traffic receiver. If the network is encrypted, you also need to know the Wi-Fi password.

  • Some devices require an additional password in order to access traffic data. If this is the case, you will need to know this password.

Enroute Flight Navigation supports all major protocols for traffic data sharing, including “FLARM/NMEA” and “GDL90”. If your traffic receiver supports FLARM/NMEA as well as GDL90 output, then configure it to always use FLARM/NMEA. The GDL90 protocol has a number of shortcomings that Enroute Flight Navigation cannot always work around. See the Section Known Issues with GDL90 for more details.

Step 1: Enter the Traffic Receiver’s Wi-Fi Network

  • Make sure that the traffic receiver has power and is switched on. In a typical aircraft installation, the traffic receiver is connected to the ‘Avionics’ switch and will automatically switch on. You may need to wait a minute before the Wi-Fi comes online and is visible to your device.

  • Enter the Wi-Fi network deployed by your traffic receiver. This is usually done in the “Wi-Fi Settings” of your device. Enter the Wi-Fi password if required. Some devices will issue a warning that the Wi-Fi is not connected to the internet. In this case, you might need to confirm that you wish to enter the Wi-Fi network.

Most operating systems will offer to remember the connection, so that your device will automatically connect to this Wi-Fi in the future. We recommend using this option.

Step 2: Check Connectivity

After your device has entered the traffic receiver’s Wi-Fi network in Step 1, everything else should be automatic. To check, open the main menu and navigate to the “Information” menu. If the entry “Traffic Receiver” is highlighted in green, then Enroute Flight Navigation has already found the traffic receiver in the network and has connected to it. Congratulations, you are done!

If the entry “Traffic Receiver” is not highlighted in green, then something has gone wrong. The section “Troubleshooting” below might help you find the issue.

Daily Operations

Once things are set up properly, your device should automatically detect the traffic receiver’s Wi-Fi network, enter the network and connect to the traffic data stream whenever you go flying. Here is a breakdown of what will happen.

  • As soon as you board your aircraft and power on the avionics, the traffic receiver’s Wi-Fi network will become visible to your device.

  • In a typical scenario, your device might already be connected to a Wi-Fi in a nearby building. In that case, nothing will happen for the moment. As you taxi to the runway, your device leaves the range of that network and automatically connects to the traffic receiver’s Wi-Fi network as the next best alternative.

  • Traffic information will be shown in the moving map.

Troubleshooting

The app cannot connect to the traffic data stream

Open the main menu and navigate to the “Information” menu. If the entry “Traffic Receiver” is not highlighted in green, then Enroute Flight Navigation does not receive any traffic data or traffic data receiver heartbeat. Work through the following steps to identify the issue.

Step 1: Check Wi-Fi

Open the Wi-Fi settings of your device and confirm that your device is indeed connected to the traffic data receiver’s network. If not, then reconnect. It might help move your device closer to the traffic data receiver’s Wi-Fi antenna.

Some traffic data receivers offer a web-interface that can be accessed with your web browser. In that case, check if you can access the web-interface with your browser. Close the web browser afterwards, because some devices cannot concurrently operate the web interface and transmit traffic data.

Step 2: Check Connection

If you are sure that your device has connected to the correct Wi-Fi network, then return to Enroute Flight Navigation open the main menu and go to “Settings/Data Connections”. Look at the connections of type “TCP” and “UDP”.

  • If none of the TCP/UDP connections has status “Connected”, then Enroute Flight Navigation cannot see your traffic data receiver in the Wi-Fi network. This means that your traffic data receiver is not available at any of the IP address/Port combinations known to Enroute Flight Navigation.

    Check the manual of your traffic data receiver or Wi-Fi interface and note the connection type (TCP or UDP), IP address and port that the traffic data receiver uses. Go back to Enroute Flight Navigation and check whether the combination of IP address and port appears in the list of data connections.

    If a data connection for that IP address and port exists but cannot connect, then there is a communication issue that we cannot resolve. It might be interesting to check if another app is able to communicate with your traffic data receiver.

    If a data connection for that IP address and port does not exist, then please do the following.

    • Contact us! We want to support all traffic data receivers on the market, and we will be glad to support your traffic data receiver as well. For this, return to the main moving map screen of Enroute Flight Navigation, open the main menu and go to “Bug Report”.

    • Check if your traffic data receiver can be configured to use one of the supported IP address/port combinations. If possible, this will ensure that users of Enroute Flight Navigation can connect to your traffic data receiver without manual configuration.

    • Configure a new data connection for the IP address/port combination used by your traffic data receiver. The section Settings: Data Connections explains how to do that.

  • If one or several of the TCP/UDP connections have status “Connected” but no heartbeat is received, then you are out of luck. Enroute Flight Navigation does not receive any data or cannot understand the data it receives. Please contact us! We want to support all traffic data receivers on the market, and we will be interested to hear about your case. For this, return to the main moving map screen of Enroute Flight Navigation, open the main menu and go to “Bug Report”.

Step 3: [Censored Profanity]

If Enroute Flight Navigation has connected to your traffic data receiver via a TCP/UDP connection but does not receive heartbeat of traffic data, then you are out of luck. Please contact us, as we would like to hear about your case. Return to the main moving map screen of Enroute Flight Navigation, open the main menu and go to “Bug Report”. It might be worth checking if other apps experience similar problems.

The connection breaks down frequently

There are two common causes for unstable connections.

Limitations of your Traffic Data Receiver

Some traffic receivers and some Wi-Fi adaptors cannot serve more than one client concurrently and abort connections at random if more than one device tries to access.

  • Make sure that there no second device connected to the traffic receiver’s Wi-Fi network. The other device might well be in your friend’s pocket!

  • Make sure that there is no other app trying to connect to the traffic receiver’s data stream.

  • Many traffic receivers offer “configuration panels” that can be accessed via a web browser. Close all web browsers.

Electromagnetic Interference

Electromagnetic interference is a major problem in many avionics installations. This is not easily solved. Try moving your device closer to the Wi-Fi antenna and try to install the antenna in other locations.