[Ovmsdev] Initial experience and Nissan Leaf updates

[Greg D.]

Robin O'Leary wrote:
> + Connected to OVMS access point using android phone.
> - Tried to visit 192.168.4.1 in phone's web browser (Firefox 55.0.2);
>   it seemed to connect, but would only display a blank page.
Hi Robin,

I've seen this a number of times as well, and it's really annoying.  It
appears that the problem is that the phone is confused about where to
send traffic when it has both a WiFi connection to the module, and an
LTE connection to the Internet.  Simple routing decisions like this were
solved decades ago, but it still appears to blow the mind of the little
creature within.  I think it's so focused on the Internet that it can't
believe anything useful would exist elsewhere.  Disabling LTE data seems
to solve it, but of course, also disables a lot of what you use the
"phone" for...  That's probably why your Debian system worked.

There may also be a notification, usually in the background, when you
first connect to the AP that essentially says, "Hey, this AP thing can't
connect to the Internet.  Do you still want to stay connected to it?" 
Until you tell it "Yes!", it seems to block all traffic to the AP,
leading to timeouts within the browser.

My phone is a Google Pixel2, running Android 8.1.

As a "best practice", I find that configuring the module to be in
AP+Client mode, with a client configuration for your home wifi network
(set this up first!) is best.  Once your phone and module are both on
your home wifi, you can use the phone's web browser to the module's
client IP address (instead of 192.168.4.1) to view the same pages as you
see when connecting to AP mode, but without the routing hassles.  Get
the module's IP address from the shell command 'wifi status', or use a
Bonjour browser app such as "Bonjour Search HTTP" (free in Google Play
from author Tomoaki Takeda) to find it.  I leave AP mode on as a
fail-safe, in case I need to access the module away from home.  It's
also used for the Dashboard screen, which is a must-see aid while driving.

Greg