Feature request: temporary AP mode to avoid landscaper accessing my network

[slick]

Hi all,

I’d like a landscaper to adjust my sprinklertimer without giving him access to my WiFi network.
OS allows switching into AP mode by pressing the B3+B2 feature, but it stays there.

Question: Can that feature be expanded to have a temporary AP mode setting? If I reboot, it would go back to normal mode.
The Lanscaper use case:
1) choose temporary AP mode from the menu
2) Connect phone to AP network.
3) Use the app to scan for devices, make adjustments…
4) reboot device with B2 hold or through the app to go back to normal

Security concern is no different than a non-wifi timer; you’d need physical access to the unit, and you’d still have a password.

I coded this years ago using a NVM bit setting to save state. It kept the AP mode through one reboot. cleared it so the next reset went back to normal mode. There are probably better solutions and porting my changes to the latest firmware has not worked yet for some reason and don’t know why. Someone more familiar with the SW architecture could probably do it in short order.

Summary:
1) The UI will allow temporarily switching to AP mode for local access without deleting normal settings.
2) Control will be allowed through front panel buttons without requiring a power cycle
3) Bonus feature: it will switch from temporary mode to normal mode automatically after 30minutes(?). Nice to have because the landscaper will likely forget to switch it back.

What do you think?
(If this is not the place to post this, let me know where to put it)
Thanks for all you do to maintain and improve things!

[erasmart35]

That sounds useful. For the temporary-mode design, it may help to specify what should happen if power is lost while the landscaper is connected: should the next boot immediately restore the saved network, or resume the temporary AP until the timeout? I would also test that the saved Wi-Fi settings survive entering and leaving the mode, that the timeout returns to the normal network, and that a failed reconnection leaves a clear local recovery path. The timeout should end access, but it would be worth checking whether the controller password needs changing afterward if it was shared for the visit.

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