Failures are the result of vibrations which cause wiring between the headphone jack and the mini’s printed circuit board to break or to create short circuits with other components. In the original design of the RedEye mini, the headphone jack is soldered directly to the printed circuit board, preventing the printed circuit board from moving relative to the headphone jack, as shown in the following photo of a prototype unit.

Original design

The manufacturer of the C0101 lot felt that it was too difficult to solder the headphone jack to the printed circuit board in this fashion. As a result, we approved a design change that would allow the circuit board to be secured to the plastic enclosure by a permanent adhesive, thus keeping the printed circuit board fixed and preventing vibrations from stressing the wiring.

We began to see an alarming number of tested units fail “in the field,” so on Thursday, 22 July 2010 we opened up some of these units to discover that the circuit boards were secured with a relatively small dot of low-tack foam tape. As a result of being improperly secured, circuit boards are coming loose from their housings and being jostled about. As they shake, wires become loose and break, or come in contact with other components on the board, resulting in erratic behavior of the unit.

Lot C0101 unit with loose wires and inadequate adhesive

Based upon what we are seeing with these units secured by foam tape, we believe it is only a matter of time before many of these printed circuit boards will separate from the plastic enclosure and begin to float freely. Rather than wait for these units to fail, we feel that the best alternative is to replace them as soon as possible.

As we had quality concerns before, we were already in the process of transitioning RedEye mini manufacturing to a new contractor. On Friday, 23 July 2010 an engineering team from our new supplier visited the manufacturer of the C0101 lot to take over all supplies, tooling, and other materials necessary to begin producing new RedEye mini units. Going forward, all RedEye mini units will be made in accordance with the original design, having the headphone jack securely soldered to the printed circuit board to prevent vibration failures.

We sincerely apologize for both the inconvenience and the delays that we have caused our customers with this oversight. Unfortunate though it has been, this has been a learning experience for us, and we hope to win back your confidence as we improve our control over the manufacturing process.

Customers who purchased a mini from lot C0101 will automatically receive a replacement unit at no cost once new units are available. Those who wish to receive a refund should send an email to support@thinkflood.com and specify their original order number.

Step 1: Assign a Static IP Address to RedEye

If you are going to connect to RedEye by IP address it is important to make sure that IP address does not change. In most home networks a router acts as a DHCP server and assigns IP addresses as needed, which means those IP addresses can change from time to time. While you can set your RedEye device to self-assign a static IP address, usually the best way to reserve a static IP address is through the DHCP server.

Each router and DHCP server will have a slightly different way of assigning static IP addresses, but basically what you need is the MAC address for your RedEye — conveniently printed on the label on the unit’s underside. (NOTE: all RedEye MAC addresses begin with 00:23:87, so you may be able to locate the MAC address through your DHCP server, as well.) The following screenshot shows how to reserve a static IP address on an Apple Airport using the Airport Utility:

Step 2: Decide How You Will Connect

The next step is to decide how you will connect to the RedEye on your home network while you are away. The best method by far is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Using a VPN is just like being on your home network, except that you are connecting remotely either over the cell network or through another Wi-Fi network. Thus, a VPN will allow you to connect to more than one RedEye device remotely, and it also keeps your RedEye units safely hidden behind your firewall so outsiders cannot jump in and change the channel on you (gulp).

Unfortunately, most home routers do not offer VPN functionality, so you may have to go with the backup option: port forwarding. Port forwarding basically creates a mapping between devices inside your network and certain ports on your router. There are a couple of downsides to this approach. First, the RedEye application only knows to communicate over certain specific ports, so you will only be able to port forward a single RedEye device at one time. Second, one of the ports which the RedEye app uses is port 80, so if you are already hosting a web page through your router you will have to choose another port for your web server or abandon remote access (or your webpage). Finally, port forwarding opens up a security hole in your network so that anyone who discovers that you have a RedEye mapped on the router could control your equipment remotely. Despite these drawbacks, virtually all home routers on the market offer basic port forwarding as an option.

Step 3, Option 1: VPN

You will need to consult your router’s documentation as to setting up a VPN, but once you have done so, you can access the VPN settings on your iPhone by going to the Settings app and then tapping on General > Network > VPN. From there, input your VPN credentials and you should be ready to go. Skip to step 4 to find out how to add RedEye devices by IP address.

Step 3, Option 2: Port Forwarding

Configuring port forwarding is relatively easy. First, you need to know the IP address of the device inside your network that will connect to the outside world. We took care of this in step 1 when we assigned a static IP to the RedEye device. Second, you need to know which ports on that device will respond to outside requests. In the case of the RedEye unit, those ports are 80, 81, and 82. Finally, you need to decide which ports on your router to use for those ports on your device, and what type of connection (TCP or UDP) to allow. The RedEye app has decided that for you already: TCP connections on ports 80, 81, and 82. Enter this information into your router configuration and hit save. Apple’s Airport Utility configuration page appears below for illustration. When you are done, move on to step 4 to finish the process.

Step 4: Add Your IP Room

The last step in the process is to add your RedEye unit as an “IP Room” — that is a room at a fixed IP address to which the RedEye app will try to connect each time on launch. To add an IP room, first open the Setup tab and then select the “Find Rooms by IP Address” row and tap “Add Room.”

The first part of adding your RedEye IP room is simple — just enter the serial number printed on the bottom of your RedEye unit.

What you enter for the IP address depends on which form of remote access you have. If you are using a VPN, then you can enter the static IP address assigned in step one. (You can also repeat this step for each RedEye room you need to add.) If you are using port forwarding, then the IP address is the IP address which your Internet service provider has assigned to your router, as this is the device that we need to find on the wide area network. (Your router will take care of “forwarding” your requests on to the RedEye unit yourself – we took care of that in step 3).

Once you have entered the IP address, tap Save and then Exit Setup to finish.

If this all seems like a little too much, never fear — we do hope to tackle remote access in a more user-friendly manner down the road. But for those who can’t wait for that to happen, in the meantime you have a couple of options.

The RedEye device ships configured to establish an ad-hoc, wireless network. Doing so makes it possible to launch the application and configure other wireless settings, given that the device has no keyboard or other input method.

To date, we have discovered one issue with this approach: the iPhone does not “like” being attached to an ad-hoc network, and will often drop the Wi-Fi network connection and jump over to the cellular network. This problem does not exist for iPod touch devices, as they do not have other network options.

This issue stems from a bug in iPhone OS 3.0, but until Apple releases an update there are some things you can do. First, we recommend that you connect the RedEye device to an existing Wi-Fi network, as the iPhone does not appear to have problems remaining connected to regular Wi-Fi access points. (We also have some functionality which requires an Internet connection, so this is a good long-term solution, as well.) However, if you do want to use the factory networking setup — or even if you are just using an iPhone to get the system up and running on your network for the first time — you can turn off the phone’s cellular access and still use Wi-Fi. Here is how it works:

1. Turn on the iPhone’s “Airplane Mode.” Launch the Settings application; Airplane Mode is the top option on the screen.

2. Turn Wi-Fi on and select the RedEye network. By default, Airplane Mode turns off the Wi-Fi radio; however, you can turn it on again manually by tapping on the Wi-Fi row and then flipping the on/off switch on the Wi-Fi Networks screen. From there, tap on the RedEye network to select it, and you should be all set.

PLEASE NOTE: When Airplane Mode is on, you will not be able to receive calls on your phone, so please remember to turn it off when you are finished.