[irober02]

I have shiny, new Android device (Samsung Galaxy Tab S* Ultra) with a BIG screen.

When I try to sync with another (Android) device it can't see the "server". I can work around it by selecting direct connect and entering the other device's IP address that MobileSheets helpfully displays (MobileSheets is brilliant with its attention to such helpful details.)

Since I have an immediately accessible workaround it's no big deal but I am puzzled by this problem as I haven't seen it before. 

I'm using my home WiFi to connect and have checked that clients CAN connect. Obviously, they can because the sync proceeds just fine once I've entered the IP address but or some reason the new device can't see the server listed by name in the usual manner. Both devices are running Android 13 an Samsung Galaxy UI v5.1.1.

Any clues to this puzzle would be appreciated.

cheers

ian

[Zubersoft]

That usually points to a firewall issue (if you have anti-virus software installed, for example), or the router is blocking broadcast messages for some reason. If you have a mesh router, the mesh functionality can also block broadcast messages. Lastly, make sure all of your devices are on the same band if you have both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands.

One of my plans for next year is to switch all the discovery messaging to use DNS SD which won't be blocked by routers/firewall software in the same way. So this should improve things once it's available.

Mike

[frenchingermany]

i have changed windows pc's, assigned storage to same location and copied mobilesheets.db to the new pc. that worked brilliantly, but now i cannot sync from the new windows device to my android tablet using wifi. even entering the ip address does not work. i tried bluetooth, and the android device can find the windows device, but then doesn't seem to sync, although the sync starts. curiously, on the windows device it choice itself as the connected device and send the database file to the local drive on the windows pc. nothing happens on the android device despite the fact i initiated the sync from there.

05:47:05 PM - Sending database file to connected device
05:49:28 PM - 2678784 bytes successfully sent for file: C:\Users\tom\AppData\Local\Packages\41730Zubersoft.MobileSheets_ys1c8ct2g6ypr\LocalState\mobilesheets.db

any ideas?

best regards!

- tom

[RAc]

what do you mean "entering the ip address does not work?

are you absolutely sure about the ip addresses assigned to your devices (checked with your wlan router or whoever assigns the addresses)? Can you ping the devices mutually?

[Zubersoft]

Definitely stick with using WiFi, as bluetooth is incredibly slow for file transfers. What are the IP addresses of the two devices? I need to identify that they are on the same subnet. Are you using a mesh router? Have you allowed MobileSheets through the Windows firewall on your PC?

Mike

[frenchingermany]

192.168.178.78 windows pc
192.168.178.63 android tablet
the app seems missing from windows firewall settings, but i can't locate it to add it
yes, my router is a fritz!box 7590 with mesh

thanks for your help!

- tom

[Zubersoft]

That is very strange - if you go to "Allow an app through Windows Firewall", MobileSheets should show up in the list I believe and you should check both "Public" and "Private". Can you try temporarily disabling the mesh functionality on the router to see if that's interferring with the connection? Alternatively, connect both devices to a phone acting as a WiFi hotspot and see if that works. If it does, it would indicate that the router is the problem. If you have anti-virus software that has a built-in firewall, that can also be problematic. Also, I would recommend testing two things:

1) On Windows 10, go to the settings for your current network. One way of doing this is clicking the network icon in the taskbar at the bottom right corner in the Windows taskbar, then click on "Change connection properties", and on the dialog showing the network settings for your current network, click "Private". If "Public" is selected, it can cause packets to be blocked. On Windows 11, go to Settings->Network & internet, click "Properties" at the top right below the name of your ethernet or wifi connection, then change the network profile type to "Private network".
2) Try rebooting your router. This fixes connection problems frequently for users

Mike

[RAc]

192.168.178.78 windows pc
192.168.178.63 android tablet
the app seems missing from windows firewall settings, but i can't locate it to add it
yes, my router is a fritz!box 7590 with mesh

thanks for your help!

- tom

Again, can you ping one device from the other? Ie open a command prompt on your windows pc and type

ping 192.168.178.63

what response do you get?

[frenchingermany]

this is the response to the ping. now i'll try the other proposed remedies. thanks!

C:\Users\tom>ping 192.168.178.63

Pinging 192.168.178.63 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=195ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=120ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.178.63:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 8ms, Maximum = 195ms, Average = 108ms

[frenchingermany]

thank all, for your help. it turns out my avast firewall was blocking the mobilesheets app. i should have thought of this first, but since it always worked on the former pc, i didn't suspect the problem there. at any rate, the knowledge and hypotheses you provided about firewall settings and private/public network led me to the source and the root causes.

thanks!

- tom

[RAc]

this is the response to the ping. now i'll try the other proposed remedies. thanks!

C:\Users\tom>ping 192.168.178.63

Pinging 192.168.178.63 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=195ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=110ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=120ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.178.63: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.178.63:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 8ms, Maximum = 195ms, Average = 108ms

ok, apologies, from your earlier laborations it should have been clear that basic connectivity is verified, somehow I misread that part...