Connect to a Radio overview¶

The Connect to a Radio panel is the starting point for every AetherSDR session. It lets you choose how to reach your FLEX-8600 — on your local network, through FlexRadio SmartLink, or by entering an IP address directly — and then initiate the connection.

Before you start¶

Your FLEX-8600 must be powered on and running firmware 4.1.5.
For SmartLink connections, you need a FlexRadio account and internet access on both ends.
For manual/VPN connections, you need the radio's IP address.

How it works¶

The panel appears in the main window whenever no radio is connected. You can also open it at any time via Settings > Connect to Radio....

Three mode buttons across the top determine which connection method is active. Selecting a mode switches the panel below to show the relevant controls. AetherSDR persists your last-used mode in ConnectionMode.

On This Network (Local mode)¶

Use this mode when the radio and your computer are on the same LAN. AetherSDR runs mDNS/Flex discovery automatically and lists any radios it finds under Available radios. Select a radio from the list and click Connect Selected Radio to connect.

If discovery finds nothing, the panel switches to an empty-state view showing No local radios found yet. From there you can:

Click Retry Discovery to run discovery again.
Click Connect by IP to switch to the Manual page.
Click Remote with SmartLink to switch to the SmartLink page.
Click Open Network Diagnostics to investigate network problems.

Common reasons discovery returns nothing include guest Wi-Fi AP isolation, VPN software running on the host, and firewall rules blocking discovery packets.

Remote with SmartLink¶

Use this mode when the radio is at a different location. Enter your FlexRadio account email in SmartLink account: Email (persisted as SmartLinkEmail) and your password in SmartLink account: Password (not persisted), then click Sign In. After authentication, AetherSDR populates the Remote radios list with the WAN radios available to your account. The list has a fixed height; if you have many remote radios, scroll within the list to find the one you want. Select a radio and click Connect Remote Radio. To end the session, click Sign Out.

Connect by IP (Manual mode)¶

Use this mode for VPN or routed network connections where you already know the radio's IP address. Enter the address in Radio IP address (persisted as ManualRadioIp), then click Connect by IP.

The Radio IP address field is an editable drop-down. AetherSDR stores up to three recently used addresses (persisted as RecentConnectByIpAddresses) and populates the drop-down with them when the panel opens. Click the drop-down arrow to select a previous address, or type a new one directly. Addresses are normalized before saving; duplicates are not stored. If a legacy LastRoutedRadioIp value exists from an earlier version, it is imported automatically the first time the panel opens.

Three additional controls are available on this page:

Advanced: Source path — selects which local network interface (NIC) is used for the connection. The chosen interface is persisted as ManualBindSource. A Source warning label appears if the saved interface is unavailable or stale.
Use low bandwidth mode — reduces stream data rates for slow or congested links. Persisted as LowBandwidthMode.
Network Diagnostics — opens the network diagnostics tool if the connection fails.

Startup behavior¶

The Connect to last radio on start up checkbox controls whether AetherSDR connects automatically when it starts. When checked (the default), AetherSDR attempts to reconnect to the last used radio on startup and whenever it probes broadcast-discovery or routed-radio addresses. When unchecked, the connection panel opens at startup and you must select a radio manually each session. This preference is persisted as AutoConnectToLastRadio.

Status indicators¶

Regardless of mode, a Status label shows the current connection state (searching, connecting, connected, or an error message). After probing a manual IP, a Manual result label shows whether the probe succeeded or failed.

Disconnecting¶

Once connected, click Disconnect to return to the connection panel. You can also reach the panel again via Settings > Connect to Radio....

What each control does¶

Control	Mode	Behavior
Local	—	Switches to local LAN discovery mode.
SmartLink	—	Switches to SmartLink remote mode.
Manual	—	Switches to manual IP entry mode.
Available radios	Local	Lists radios found by LAN discovery.
Connect Selected Radio	Local	Connects to the highlighted radio.
No local radios found yet	Local	Indicator shown when discovery is empty.
Retry Discovery	Local	Re-runs LAN discovery.
Remote with SmartLink (shortcut)	Local	Switches to the SmartLink page.
Connect by IP (shortcut)	Local	Switches to the Manual page.
Open Network Diagnostics	Local	Opens the network diagnostics tool.
SmartLink account: Email	SmartLink	FlexRadio account email address. Persisted as `SmartLinkEmail`.
SmartLink account: Password	SmartLink	Account password (not saved between sessions).
Sign In	SmartLink	Authenticates with SmartLink.
Sign Out	SmartLink	Logs out of SmartLink.
Remote radios	SmartLink	Lists WAN radios available to the account. Scrollable; fixed display height.
Connect Remote Radio	SmartLink	Starts a WAN connection to the selected radio.
Radio IP address	Manual	Editable drop-down showing up to three recent addresses (persisted as `RecentConnectByIpAddresses`). Type a new address or select a previous one. Persisted as `ManualRadioIp`.
Advanced: Source path	Manual	Selects the local NIC for the connection. Persisted as `ManualBindSource`.
Use low bandwidth mode	Manual	Enables reduced-rate streams for slow links. Persisted as `LowBandwidthMode`.
Network Diagnostics	Manual	Opens the network diagnostics tool.
Connect by IP (manual)	Manual	Initiates the manual/VPN connection.
Connect to last radio on start up	All	When checked, AetherSDR auto-connects to the last used radio on startup and on broadcast-discovery / routed-radio probe. When unchecked, the connection panel opens and the user must pick a radio manually each session. Defaults to checked. Persisted as `AutoConnectToLastRadio`.
Disconnect	All	Disconnects from the current radio.