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

Vic_G
Apprentice

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

HI, I would like to connect my newly purchased 21 inch Meural Canvas II to my home network wirelessly.  Can anyone tell me how to do that? 

 

Running an ethernet cable from my home router to the Canvas worked but I'd rather not have an ethernet cable involved when I hang the Canvas on the wall.

 

I have read through as much documentation as I could find but do not see any relevant info so it may not be possible so I thought I'd check with you all to see what I am missing.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 1 of 12

Accepted Solutions
ChristineT
Admin

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

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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Message 10 of 12

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Vic_G
Apprentice

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

Just to follow back up for completeness, I finally connected our Canvas II to our home WIFI network by

  • connecting my Windows 10 laptop to the Canvas II local network
  • accessing the Canvas II through my Firefox browser using an IP address given to me by Netgear support
  • that link provided an interface for updating the Canvas network

I have yet to get the Meural App that I downloaded to my Samsung S10 Android phone to display the Canvas II Local Network (and from that point in theory I would be able to access the Canvas II network settings) and thus far the Netgear support folks have not given an ideas as to why that is.  But for now I'm good to go, with the Meural App question being relegated to a "nice to know why" issue.

 

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 2 of 12
ChristineT
Admin

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

Hello Vic_G,

 

Thanks for posting an update to your original post. Glad that you were able to get your new Meural connected! We also have an article that may be helpful if anyone else has a similar question that can be found by visiting How do I connect my Meural Canvas to WiFi?.

 

I'd like to hear more about the experience you are having with your "Samsung S10 Android phone to display the Canvas II Local Network". It sounds like the Canvas SSID (network name) isn't showing up in the list of available networks to connect to from your S10 phone, is that right? If so, we'll look into this further and keep you posted if we have a solution for you to try. If you are able to figure it out we'd love to hear about that as well! 

 

Regards,

ChristineT

 

Message 3 of 12
Vic_G
Apprentice

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

Hi ChristineT,

 

I read through the steps for connecting a Canvas to WiFi.  I have a suggestion or two that might reduce confusion for some readers.  I've attached a file with my comments in red text.  If I've overstepped my bounds please forgive me :).

 

The attached file also briefly describes the issue I am having using the Meural app to connect to the local Canvas network.  In short my phone sees the Canvas II local network and I can connect the phone to that network.  The issue is that when I start the Meural app the very first panel prompts me to log in the Netgear account.  Since the local Canvas network does not have access to the internet, the log in fails.  No where on that panel is there a spot to specify or select a network and password.  In the attached file is a screen shot of the panel that I am seeing.

 

I feel that I am making a simple rudimentary mistake in how I am using the app.  Or maybe it is the wrong app?  Is the Meural app on Google Play Store not playing well with Canvas II?

 

In case it is relevant, my Samsung phone model is SM-G975U, Android version 9, One UI version 1.1.

 

On a different but related topic, the Canvas II has an SD card port and a mini-USB port.  How do I populate an SD card or a mini-USB storage device with photos such that the Canvas II can display the photos?  I have looked for instructions all over the internet and have yet to find the answer.  I've manually placed photos on an SD card but that didn't work.  I'll appreciate any help that you can give me.

 

 

Thanks!!

 

Vic

 

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 4 of 12
ChristineT
Admin

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

Hello @Vic_G ,

 

I absolutely appreciate your feedback on the set up instructions! I have forwarded your suggested edits to our knowledge base team! 

 

Ok, so I think I understand the issue your having with logging into your MyNETGEAR.com account but please bare with me if I am missing something.

 

First Phase:

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

Second Phase:

  1. Go back to your device (phone) settings and reconnect to your home WiFi (to get connected to the internet again)
  2. Navigate to your open apps and select the Meural App which should still be at the login prompt
  3. You should now be able to log into your account and finalize the set up process
  4. In case you didn't know... your commumnity account is linked to a MyNETGEAR account so you should be able to login with the same credentials as logging in here. 😉

 

Would you mind giving this a try and letting me know if my directions worked or if I am still missing a peice. 🙂

 

Kind Regards,

Christine

 

Message 5 of 12
Vic_G
Apprentice

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

Hi Christine,

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

 

First Phase:

  1. Once you connect your device (phone) to the canvas locally the app should be prompting you to connect it to your WiFi.
  2. Select your network SSID and enter the WiFi Password when prompted
  3. 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

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 6 of 12
Vic_G
Apprentice

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

Hey Christine,  sorry for the additional note but for what it is worth I just tried one other experiment.  I left the Canvas II on my home Wi-Fi network so the Canvas is accessible from the Netgear server.  I then turned OFF my Samsung phone's Wi-Fi.  The phone still has internet access to the Netgear server via the T-Mobile cell service.  In this configuration I could still control the Canvas from the Meural app on the phone.  No Wi-Fi involved. 

 

I wonder if my version of the Meural app does not support communication with the Canvas directly via Wi-Fi network.  Maybe comms between the two can only occur through the Netgear server?

 

Just thinking outloud ....

 

Vic

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 7 of 12
ChristineT
Admin

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

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 

Message 8 of 12
Vic_G
Apprentice

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

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

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 9 of 12
ChristineT
Admin

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

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 

Message 10 of 12
Vic_G
Apprentice

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

Hi Christine,

 

I'm glad to be of any help, even just a little.

 

I like your idea of creating steps to build a PB sandwich.  As you observed earlier, when one is emersed in the project details, it's difficult to see the product from the eyes of the user.  It sounds like you are taking steps, such as the PB sandwich drill, to compensate for that.

 

I may have more questions as my wife and I continue to use the Meural Canvas II.  If I do I'll post them in this forum.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Vic

Model: MC321| Meural Canvas II
Message 11 of 12
KevinJ_K
NETGEAR Employee Retired

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

Hello Vic_G,

 

Thank you for the response. Please feel free to contact Christine or myself if you have any Meural questions. I hope you and your wife continue to enjoy this amazing product.

 

Regards,

Kevin K., NETGEAR Meural Community Team

Message 12 of 12
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