Connectivity

Billy-Billy can be connected to your local network, and the internet either by Cable (wired connection) or Wi-Fi (wireless connection).

Under normal circumstances, either of these options will work fine. However, in areas with bad Wi-Fi coverage, it is recommended to connect by cable.

Connecting to a Wi-Fi network

As Billy-Billy has no keyboard or camera, the Wi-Fi credentials need to be shared via the supplied USB drive.

Using the ZBOS Control website, a configuration file with Wi-Fi credentials can be created, either during the initial on-boarding (following the on-screen instructions ) or later on.

The following steps explain how to create a Wi-Fi network config file from Control:

  1. Press the top-right configuration menu and select the option Wi-Fi Setup

  2. In the Wi-Fi-configuration dialog, enter the network name (SSID) and password.

  3. Click the download button at the bottom of the dialog, a wifi.conf file will be downloaded.

  4. Place the wifi.conf file on a FAT-formatted USB drive. A suitable USB drive comes delivered with Billy-Billy.

  5. Place the USB drive in one of the USB slots on the back of Billy-Billy. By default, the USB-slot has a rubber protector in it, which needs to be removed first.
    usb connectors

  6. There are 2 ways to connect to Wi-Fi:

    1. Power on Billy-Billy with the USB drive inserted, the connection will happen automatically.

    2. With Billy-Billy already powered on, say the wake-word ("Billy-Billy") followed by the command "Connect to Wi-Fi".

  7. You should now be connected to Wi-Fi.

Creating a Wi-Fi config file manually (advanced)

In case you can not use ZBOS Control, the Wi-Fi config file is just a standard plain text file containing the configuration in json format. You can easily create a file with the following contents:

{
	"wifi": {
		"ssid": "network name",
		"psk": "network password"
	}
}

Replace the network name and password with the correct values and save the file as wifi.conf and install as explained above.

Connecting to a wired network

Connect an ethernet cable (CAT5/RJ45) to the ethernet port on the back of Billy-Billy. By default, the port has a rubber protector in it. Remove the protector first.

connection cable port
connection cable

The connection will happen automatically (on a normal DHCP network).