Network Configuration

Blickfeld Qb2 devices support wired connection over Ethernet and wireless connection over WiFi for both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols.

Accessing the Qb device

By default, each Qb2 is configured to use DHCP and will attempt to automatically retrieve an IP address from the network. Initially, the WebGUI of the Qb2 device connected to the network via the wired Ethernet connection can be accessed from any internet browser using the Qb2 hostname in the following format qb2-ABC123XYZ, where ABC123XYZ is the device serial number printed on it’s label.

Please ensure that your network is properly configured to support hostname resolution (e.g., via DNS or mDNS). While Qb2 is configured to use DHCP out of the box and provides its hostname during network configuration, hostname resolution depends on the local network environment and is not automatically guaranteed. If hostname resolution is not available, the device may not be reachable via its hostname and should be accessed using its IP address.
Please refer to Network Modes subsection to find out how Qb2 obtains its IP address.

Once connected, further network configuration can be performed via the Network Setup page. The Network page of Qb2 device with the hostname qb2-ABC123XYZ is shown below.

networking page
Figure 1. Network Configuration Page

Once the initial connection is established, the hostname can be changed to the desired one using the Device name option. To connect the Qb2 device to the wireless network, set the SSID and network password via the corresponding Wireless submenu.

Wired Ethernet connection will be disabled when the wireless WiFi connection is in use! In this case, the ethernet plug is only used to power Qb2 device.
Always use the validate button of the Network Setup page to ensure that the desired wireless credentials are correct. If the credentials are incorrect, the previous network configuration will be kept.

Fall-back IP Address

All Qb2 devices have a pre-configured fallback IP address, which is 192.168.26.26 in the 255.255.255.0 (/24) subnet. If there are any connectivity issues or a possibly incorrect configuration, the address can be used for a reconfiguration. To successfully establish a connection, it is required that the client uses an IP address in the same address and subnet, e.g., 192.168.26.25/24. It is not recommended to use the fallback IP address in production environments, as it causes conflicts in networks with multiple devices.

If a network connection cannot be established, or if the network mode is unclear, the fallback IP address 192.168.26.26/24 can always be used via the Ethernet interface for a device’s network reconfiguration. Please refer to the FAQ section of the documentation for more information.

Please use manual IP configuration if DHCP is not available. The description of the Qb2 device networking modes and their configuration for both wireless and wired connections is explained in the subsection below.

Network Modes

The following operation modes are supported by Qb2 devices: automatic network configuration via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), manual network configuration and Link-Local network configuration.

DHCP configuration (Default)

If the Qb2 device is used in a managed network, it can be configured to use the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to automatically retrieve an IPv4 or IPv6 address from the network router. Enable this mode by using the corresponding Automatic IP address (DHCP) toggle.

Manual configuration

If the Qb2 device is used in an unmanaged network, a static IP address and subnet can be manually configured for IPv4 or IPv6 protocols in the corresponding IPv4 settings or IPv6 settings submenus.

Link-Local configuration

If the Qb2 device has not been configured manually or automatically by a DHCP server, a link-local IP address can be acquired within the subnetwork that the Qb2 device is connected to. The IP address will be automatically chosen from the particular reserved range of IP addresses via Address Resolution Protocol (ARP): 169.254.0.0-169.254.255.255 for IPv4 and FE80::/10 for IPv6.

Both DHCP and Manual modes can be applied together. In this scenario, static configuration will be used if DHCP configuration fails.

After configuring the network mode, the settings are applied using the respective button. The applied configuration is persistent and will be active again after the Qb2 device is rebooted.