Hi

I am finding Astroberry very useful and am almost there with using it to control fully my imaging rig using a Raspberry Pi.

However, I find that on start up the Astroberry VAP is not present. I need always to run the VAP script using sudo astroberry_vap start to make it visible in order to connect to the Pi via the VAP. Sometimes when I request the status of the VAP it reports that it is started but I cannot see it until I stop it and start it again.

The problem with this is that if I am in the field without access to my home network I cannot use VNC to run the script and the only other way is to connect a mouse , keyboard and screen to the Pi locally to do it . Obviously this is highly inconvenient.

Am I missing something ? Should the VAP be visible at start up without using the script ? or is there something wrong with my system ?

Thanks for any help with this.

Isn't this related to the last question in FAQ ?
VAP is started automatically at boot IF the system is not connected to home AP. In case of Raspberry Pi 3B+ it is started in AC mode, which means that you have to use a PC that supports AC mode to see VAP. You can reconfigure it to run in B/G/N mode according to FAQ.

Thanks for your reply Radek - appreciated.
I have a Pi 3B+ so it may be the effect that you mention .
Not sure what AC mode is but I am assuming its the nature of the WiFi it uses on boot up perhaps 5 instead of 2.4 Ghz ?
I guess when you start the VAP using the script it uses the standard mode and thats why I can see it ?
The reconfiguration specified in the FAQ ensures that it starts the wifi in the normal mode when it boots up ?
Sorry about the amount of questions but just need to confirm my understanding before I do anything !
Thanks again

This is right. VAP on 3B+ starts on 5GHz by default. Changing configuration as specified in FAQ forces it to stay at 2.4GHz and not using AC mode (G mode is used instead, on channel 6).
There's a trade off to downgrade WiFi mode - it's slower in G mode, but supported by majority of devices. So use AC mode only if you know your device supports it. Otherwise VAP will be invisible to your devices. This applies also to your home router/AP i.e. it must support AC mode to connect Astroberry Server to it.

Thanks for the clarification Radek