Meural Canvas II 21 Inch: Can I connect via WIFI to my home network?

Vic_G

Apprentice

Nov 20, 2019

Hi Christine,

It's in the "First Phase" where something is amiss.

First Phase:

Once you connect your device (phone) to the canvas locally the app should be prompting you to connect it to your WiFi.
Select your network SSID and enter the WiFi Password when prompted
This completes the first phase of the set up process

Here are the steps that I followed:

Samsung phone is connected to home network

Meural App started on phone

First panel is a log in to Netgear which I did. Cannot go further into the app without logging in.
Verified that app controls the Canvas II (via Wi-Fi or via the NetGear server?)

On the Canvas II I started the local network.

On the Samsung phone I set the phone's Wi-Fi to the Canvas II local network.

The Meural App, which I never stopped, did not prompt for any network information as described in "First Phase:", step #1.

I also tried those same steps after removing and reinstalling the Meural app. Same result though.

Am I using the same version of the Meural App as you?

Info from the Meural App when connected to the Canvas via my home network:

Canvas software version: 2.1.9
Android app version (I assume this is Meural App): 4.11.2

I'll gladly try anything that you would like. Just let me know.

Thanks!

Vic

ChristineT
NETGEAR Employee Retired
Nov 20, 2019
Hello Vic_G ,

Yes, you're exactly right! Your mobile device securely connects to the Meural Library (servers) associated with your account. Interacting with the mobile app will then send commands up to the Merual Cloud which does a hand-shake (of sorts) back down to your canvas and vice-versa. A good example would be, when you upload your own content (photos), you'll upload them via the app to the cloud that will then make it's way down to the canvas.

Speaking of uploading your own content, you had a question about how to upload content using an SD Card. Check out this article and let me know if these instructions are clear. :-)

SD card to show my own images or videos on a Meural Canvas?

Warm Regards,

Christine
- Vic_G
  Apprentice
  Nov 21, 2019
  Hi Christine,
  
  Regarding the Meural App, given what I've seen, it seems like what I have is "working as designed" but is designed to behave differently than what others have used. Is that how you see it?
  
  If so is it because I have the Canvas II and/or an updated version of the Meural app? And if that's true then should the documentation be updated to reflect that?
  
  Regarding the instructions for how to setup and use an SD card, I followed them and it worked!
  
  The only suggestion that I have is to insert a step between #3 and #4 that says to insert the SD card into the Canvas II. I cannot see a way to edit the SD card from the Canvas II so the SD card will be in another device at the end of step #3. Neophyte users might follow the steps without thinking them through and go directly to step #4 without moving the loaded SD card to the Canvas II and then wonder why their SD card playlists aren't showing up.
  
  I'm probably being nitpicky but my tendency is to state all steps in desk procedures, even small obvious steps. This increases the odds that a user's first experiences are as smooth as possible. In my experience when a user runs into small snags in their initial exposure to a new product, their final impression of the product will not be as high as it could be.
  
  Thinking out loud for a moment .... I'm ok with buying a new product like the Canvas II, plugging it in, turning it on and trying to work through the user interfaces by using the U/I, either at the Netgear web portal or the phone app. But I also like to have a document that is easily found, that covers how to use the product. I could not find such a document for Canvas II. The two "desk procedures" that have been covered in this thread are found in FAQs and else where that I had a hard time finding.
  
  I will admit though that I am "old school" so maybe the Netgear document organization is perfect for 99% of your users. If so, feel free to ignore my musings :).
  
  Many many thanks for your help Christine in helping me find the answers! You are top notch.
  
  Vic
  - ChristineT
    NETGEAR Employee Retired
    Nov 22, 2019
    Happy Friday @Vic_G ,
    
    Thanks for getting back to me! I truly appreciate your thoughts and opions about how helpful (or not) our documentation is. When a person is emmersed in the product day in and day out it's easy to assume everyone else knows what we know. I tend to agree with your strategy on documentation and leave nothing out! I recently went through an exercise for writting instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Some folks forgot to include the bread since that is a seemingly obvious step! It was a fun exercise to say the least. ;-)
    
    I'll follow up with our documentation team with your additional feedback!
    
    May your weekend be all you need and want it to be!
    
    Cheers,
    Christine

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Meural Canvas II 21 Inch: Can I connect via WIFI to my home network?