WiFi Connectivity between Windows controllers and the SX10

WiFi Connectivity between Windows controllers and the SX10

Trimble SX10 Scanning Total Station: Wi-Fi Connectivity With Controllers Powered By The Windows Operating System

Description

The Trimble® SX10 scanning total station firmware S1.X.X operates in ad-hoc Wi-Fi mode, however, this protocol is becoming obsolete and recent Windows® 10 network chipset drivers do not support ad-hoc mode. To facilitate this a new version of firmware for the SX10, S2.X.X, will be released that operates in  Access Point (AP) mode for Wi-Fi connections. 

Both S1.X.X and S2.X.X versions of the SX10 scanning total station firmware can be compatible with your controller, you just need to ensure the correct network chipset driver is being used. This document explains the current and future situations for connecting controllers powered by the Windows operating system to the SX10 scanning total station.

Access Point and Ad-Hoc Driver Table
The following table lists the driver version required for Access Point or ad-hoc Wi-Fi connectivity for each Trimble controller configuration.


Checking the network chipset driver version
To check the driver version for your network chipset on a controller powered by the Windows operating system:
  1. Navigate to Device Manager via the Windows start menu. 
  2. Expand the network adapters list.
  3. Right-click the name of the applicable network chipset (see table above), then select Properties.
  4. Select the Driver tab to see the Driver Version. 
Installing the required driver
The sections below explain for each controller, how to get the desired driver installed.

Trimble TSC7 Controller
TSC7 controller ships with compatibility for AP connection mode.

There is a Wi-Fi Driver Utility available to switch the drivers between AP and ad-hoc capability. The utility is available through the Trimble Installation Manager as part of the Trimble AccessTM software installation.
Alternatively the utility can be downloaded from here. It requires administrative privileges to run and will prompt you for permission, then prompt you to choose which driver version you want to install.

Trimble T10 Tablet
The T10 tablet currently ships with compatibility for the ad-hoc connection mode.

This support note describes how to validate the driver version and then roll back to the ad-hoc Wi-Fi driver if an update or newer driver has been installed. It also describes how to update the driver for compatibility with S2.X.X firmware. 

Trimble Tablet Rugged PC
The Trimble Tablet’s current shipping configuration supports both ad-hoc and AP connection modes, but performance can be improved by updating the driver for use with S2.X.X firmware. Trimble Installation Manager automatically updates the driver on the Trimble Yuma® 2 rugged tablet computer to 10.0.0.336 when installing Trimble Access version 2017.20. The updated driver will work with both AP and ad-hoc connection modes. You can also find the zip folder with the 10.0.0.336 driver here, to manually update if you aren’t entitled to 2017.20.

Laptops powered by the Windows 10 operating system
Most modern laptops will be unable to connect via Wi-Fi to a Trimble SX10 scanning total station running S1.X.X firmware as the available drivers will not support ad-hoc connections. You may be able to find a driver for your laptop’s network chipset that supports ad-hoc connections, otherwise you will need to connect via cable until you update the SX10 scanning total station to firmware version S2.X.X. 

Windows updates and Drivers
If you have the ad-hoc driver installed, some Windows updates may install a newer driver for your network chipset. If you have connection problems after running Windows updates, first check that the correct driver is still installed for ad-hoc connectivity.

All controllers
Once you are running firmware S2.X.X on the SX10 scanning total station, then the controllers can be updated to the latest driver versions available and then kept up to date with future releases via Windows updates.

For more information
Contact your local Trimble Representative.