Quickstart: Standalone (WiFi)

A standalone device does everything over WiFi: you control it, edit its show, and even update its firmware from a web dashboard in your browser. No cables after the first power-up, no software to install.

This is the right page if your device came flashed in standalone mode (the default). If yours uses the USB loader instead, see the Loader quickstart. If you have a blank board with no firmware on it yet, start at First-time flashing.

What you’ll need

• Your device, with RFX Effects firmware already on it
• A USB cable (for power)
• A phone or computer on a 2.4 GHz WiFi network (ESP32-class boards can’t see 5 GHz networks)

1. Power up

Plug the device into any USB power source. Within a few seconds the firmware boots, starts its web server, and brings up WiFi in the background — the show starts playing even before the network is ready.

What happens next depends on whether the device already knows your WiFi:

• Already configured — it joins your network. Skip to step 3.
• Not configured yet (fresh device, or your network changed) — after about 15 seconds it gives up and creates its own WiFi network so you can set it up. Continue with step 2.

2. Connect to the setup network (first time only)

1. On your phone or computer, open your WiFi settings.
2. Join the open network named rfx-setup (if the device has a custom hostname, the network is <hostname>-setup). No password.
3. Open a browser and go to http://192.168.4.1/ — the device’s address on its own network. You should see the RFX dashboard.
4. Open the Config tab. Fill in:
   • WiFi SSID — your network’s name
   • WiFi password
   • Hostname — the name you’ll use to reach it later (e.g. gauntlet)
5. Click Save & reload. The device reboots and joins your network.

Reconnect your phone or computer to your normal WiFi before the next step.

Tip

The full reference for every network setting — including what the hostname does and how the fallback network behaves — is on the WiFi & network setup page.

3. Open the dashboard

In a browser on the same network, go to:

http://<hostname>.local/

For example http://gauntlet.local/ — or http://rfx.local/ if you kept the default name. If .local names don’t resolve on your network, use the device’s IP address instead.

Note

Can’t find the IP? On boards with a built-in USB data drive, the device writes a netinfo.json file to the drive every time the network comes up — it lists the IP address, hostname, WiFi mode, and the dashboard URL. Plug the device into a computer and read it straight off the drive.

The dashboard’s tabs, left to right:

Tab	What it’s for
Live	Master speed, inputs, live wiring/pinout view, effects, variables
Build	Visual show editor — no JSON required
Show	The raw show.json editor (highlighting, autocomplete, Ctrl+S)
Config	WiFi, hostname, active show file, raw config.json
Files	Upload/manage files on the device, and flash firmware updates
Console	System health and logs

4. Load or edit your show

Everything the device does is driven by show.json — change the file, and the behavior changes. No rebuilding, no reflashing. Three ways in:

1. Build tab — edit the show visually, then Save & reload. The device applies it live.
2. Show tab — edit the raw JSON directly, then Save & reload.
3. Files tab — upload a show.json (plus fonts, sounds, or other assets) you prepared on your computer.

On boards whose storage shows up as a USB drive, you can also plug into a computer and edit show.json right on the drive. See Your first show to start writing one.

5. Update firmware over WiFi (when you need to)

Standalone devices update firmware over the air — no cable:

1. Get the new firmware.bin for your board.
2. Open the dashboard → Files tab → firmware update section.
3. Choose the firmware.bin file and click Flash firmware.
4. The device writes the update to its spare firmware slot and reboots into it — this takes a few seconds, and the page will briefly say the connection dropped. Reconnect and you’re on the new version (shown in the dashboard header).

The previous firmware stays on the other slot, and a USB reflash is always available as a last resort — a bad update never bricks the device.

Caution

Anyone on your WiFi network can push a firmware update to the device — updates are unsigned in this build. Keep the device on a network you trust.

Next steps

• Your first show — write a show.json from scratch
• WiFi & network setup — the full config.json reference
• Boards — buttons, ports, and storage details for your specific board
• Troubleshooting — when something doesn’t behave