Are your Probe measurements restarting during sampling?

Are your Probe measurements restarting during sampling?

The Probe may begin sampling normally but then appear to restart before the measurement has clearly finished. This issue can be intermittent and may occur without any visible error message.

Agent triage — ask these first

Ask all three before troubleshooting:

1. "Is the Dashboard showing any disconnection or reconnection messages around the time the restart happens?"

   • If unsure: Ask — "Does the Probe's physical blue LED indicator go off, or does the online indicator in the Dashboard turn yellow instead of green around the time the restart happens?"
   • If unable to check: Continue — Dashboard disconnection history can be reviewed by Pulsenics on the Cloud Dashboard if the client cannot confirm.

2. "How is your Probe connected to the network — through the Pulsenics InHand router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, or directly through your company network?"

   • If unsure: Ask — "Is there a black and green square router with antennas (InHand IR302) near the Probe, or is the Probe plugged directly into your facility's network?"
   • If still unsure: Continue — assume Wi-Fi until confirmed, and proceed with connectivity checks.

3. "How are you running the measurement — through the Cloud Dashboard, a local dashboard, or Modbus/scripts?"

   • If unsure: Ask — "Are you clicking buttons on a web page to run the measurement, or is it triggered automatically by a script or PLC?" They can also check by opening dashboard.pulsenics.com — if that's where they run measurements, it's the Cloud Dashboard.

Use the answers to route:

Immediate workaround — stop the resampling while investigating

If the restarts are disrupting work right now, disable this setting to prevent the Probe from immediately resampling after a reconnection:

Probes > (your Probe) > uncheck "Resample on Probe Reconnect"

This does not fix the underlying connectivity issue, but it stops the restart behaviour while you investigate. Re-enable it once connectivity is confirmed stable.

Important — validate controls after any reconnection: When "Resample on Probe Reconnect" is disabled, the Probe will not automatically re-sync the latest controls after coming back online. This means that if a stop command or any other control was sent while the Probe was offline, the Probe will not have received it. Before running again after any reconnection event, the client must confirm that the Probe is showing the correct current controls — especially that any stop sampling command has been received and acknowledged.

Confirm after: Run 2–3 measurements and check that no restarts occur before considering the workaround effective.

Check signal strength — Wi-Fi connections only

If the Probe is on Wi-Fi, ask the client to check signal strength as a concrete indicator:

1. Connect a laptop or phone to the Probe's Wi-Fi hotspot
   • The hotspot name follows the format Pulsenics Wifi Setup_PUXXX where PUXXX is your Probe's unit number (for example, PU198 or PU201) — this is a short number, not the full serial number
   • Password: PulseActivate!
2. Open a browser and go to http://setup.pulsenics.com or 1.0.0.1
3. Open the Wi-Fi setup dropdown
4. Note the dBm value shown for the active network connection

Interpreting the result (general guidance):

• -50 dBm or better — strong signal; likely not the primary cause, check antenna placement and obstructions
• -50 to -70 dBm — marginal; worth improving router or antenna placement before ruling it out
• -70 dBm or worse — weak signal is a likely contributor; prioritise router repositioning

This check applies to Wi-Fi only. For Ethernet connections, the Dashboard online indicator turning yellow instead of green during sampling is the equivalent indicator of an unstable connection.

What you may observe

One or more of the following in the Probe messages or Dashboard:

• A new Starting ... message appears before the earlier measurement sequence has clearly finished
• Estimated time remaining resets as though a new run has started
• Individual frequency ranges show Sampling Started ... without a matching completion message
• The issue happens partway through the measurement, not just at the start
• The behaviour is intermittent — it does not happen on every attempt
• The Dashboard online indicator turns yellow instead of green during sampling
• The Probe's physical blue LED goes off briefly during sampling

Known contributing cause

Unstable internet connectivity

The leading identified cause is intermittent internet connectivity during sampling. This may be related to:

• Weak cellular signal at the router location
• Poor router or antenna placement
• Shielding or obstructions around the router or antennas
• An unstable Wi-Fi link between the router and the Probe

Where practical, Ethernet is generally preferred over Wi-Fi for a more stable connection to the Probe.

Note: This article remains open-ended. Other contributing factors may produce similar symptoms depending on the setup.

Known resolution

In confirmed cases, the issue was resolved by repositioning the industrial router antennas to a location with a stronger, more reliable signal. This included:

• Placing the router outside of shielded or obstructed areas
• Keeping the Wi-Fi access point close to the Probe
• Positioning the cellular antenna where it had better signal access

Confirm after: After improving router placement, run 2–3 consecutive measurements to confirm that sampling and completion remain stable before considering the issue resolved.

Before escalating — collect this information

If the issue continues after connectivity improvements, gather the following before contacting Pulsenics:

• Connection type (Wi-Fi / Ethernet / company network)
• Signal strength reading in dBm (Wi-Fi only)
• Whether the Dashboard online indicator turns yellow or the blue LED goes off during sampling
• Whether the issue is intermittent or consistent
• How frequently restarts are occurring (every run / most runs / occasionally)
• Interface method (Cloud Dashboard / local / Modbus)
• Whether "Resample on Probe Reconnect" is enabled or disabled
• What has already been tried and what effect it had

Prevention

• Place the industrial router where it has consistent cellular signal
• Avoid placing the router or antennas inside shielded or enclosed metal areas
• Keep the connection between the router and the Probe as stable as possible
• Use Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi when available and practical

Escalate if

Flag for engineering review if:

• The issue continues after improving connectivity and router placement
• The issue occurs even on a stable wired Ethernet connection
• Signal strength appears adequate but the behaviour continues
• Restarts are becoming more frequent
• Additional symptoms appear beyond measurement restarts during sampling

Article status

This is a living troubleshooting note. Additional causes, checks, and confirmed resolutions will be added as more cases are identified.

Tags: Probe, sampling interruption, measurement restart, connectivity, router placement, cellular signal, Wi-Fi stability, Ethernet