For those of you that are connecting Metagrid via USB with multiple iPads, how are you doing it? There don’t seem to be many hub solutions that can provide enough juice to keep the pad charged AND sync data to 2 iPads via USB.
Rearranging my setup and want to jump to USB connections if possible. Wifi is still a bit flaky right when I need it.
There is currently no team-validated dual-iPad USB hub recommendation, so recommendations from community members who are successfully running this type of setup would be very welcome.
The important requirement is a powered USB hub that supports simultaneous data connections and provides sufficient charging power to each connected iPad—not merely a shared power budget across all ports.
If the main difficulty is MetaGrid Pro connectivity rather than selecting the hardware, please share your MetaGrid Pro and MetaServer versions, host platform, and whether the problem concerns initial discovery, reconnection, or USB recovery.
Yeah, that hardware doesn’t seem to exist in a budget-friendly box. I’ve moved to the idea of an Apple Camera Connection dongle for each iPad, but that’s a little more cumbersome than I’d like, and my initial tests don’t seem to work anyway… no USB connection happening. So, I guess it’s back to figuring out why my connections are very slow at first start up. Sometimes 15 or 20 minutes of sitting and they link up and are find the rest of the day. That said, I’ve been messing around with my studio’s main internet connection, so I’m sure that’s not helping as I’m continuously plugging and unplugging ethernet, wifi on and off, etc.
I am curious though… at the moment, the iPads are connected fine, but I have the computer’s Wifi connection turned off to force my internet connection to ethernet. How are they connecting?
Your iPads can connect while the Mac’s Wi‑Fi is disabled. The iPads are connected by Wi‑Fi to your router or access point, while the Mac is connected to the same local network by Ethernet. MetaGrid Pro communicates with MetaServer across that shared network, so the Mac itself does not need an active Wi‑Fi connection.
The 15–20 minute initial connection time is not expected. Since the network configuration has recently been changing, please try one controlled test:
If the delay still occurs in that stable configuration, please let us know the MetaServer and MetaGrid Pro versions and whether either iPad connects sooner than the other. That will help distinguish local-network discovery latency from a device-specific connection problem.
Regarding the Camera Connection adapters: they will not automatically establish MetaGrid Pro’s USB connection unless the complete adapter, cable and Apple-device data path is recognized by the computer. We can troubleshoot that separately once the stable Ethernet/Wi‑Fi test is complete.
Thanks for the info… seems obvious now that you say it. ha ha!
Now that my network setup has stabilized, I’m connecting consistently. I still have to force quit and restart the MG app on the iPads for them to connect at the start of each day.
And I’ve abandoned the Camera Connection adaptors idea for now. It’s physically and esthetically more cumbersome than I want on my desk.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for confirming that the network is now stable, and sorry we missed the remaining daily reconnection problem.
Are you still having to force-quit MetaGrid Pro at the start of each day? If so, please let us know:
Next time it happens, please capture a MetaGrid Pro support package from one affected iPad and a MetaServer support package from the same attempt before force-quitting or restarting either app, if possible. Send them privately to help@metagrid.app, mentioning forum topic 1594 and the approximate time of the failed connection.
That will help us distinguish discovery from reconnection recovery and identify why restarting the iPad app restores the connection.