Connection panel¶

The Connection panel is the main entry point for connecting AetherSDR to a FlexRadio radio. It provides three connection modes: Local (LAN discovery), SmartLink (remote WAN radios), and Manual (direct IP connection, useful for VPN or routed networks).

Connect to a Local LAN Radio¶

Open Settings > Connect to Radio....
Ensure Local is selected at the top of the dialog.
Wait for the "Available radios" list to populate with discovered radios on your LAN.
Select the radio you want to connect to from the list.
Click Connect Selected Radio.

If no radios appear, click Retry Discovery to re-run LAN discovery.

Connect to a Remote Radio through SmartLink¶

Open Settings > Connect to Radio....
Click Remote with SmartLink or select the SmartLink mode button.
Enter your FlexRadio account email in the Email field.
Enter your FlexRadio account password in the Password field.
Click Sign In.
After successful authentication, select a radio from the Remote radios list.
Click Connect Remote Radio.

To sign out, click Sign Out.

Connect by IP across a VPN or Routed Network¶

Open Settings > Connect to Radio....
Click Connect by IP or select the Manual mode button.
Enter the radio's IP address in the Radio IP address field.
(Optional) Select a local network interface from the Advanced: Source path dropdown if you need to route through a specific NIC.
Click Connect by IP (manual).

Connection Options for Slower Links¶

Open Settings > Connect to Radio....
Scroll to the bottom of the panel.
Locate the Connection options for slower links section.
Check Use low bandwidth mode to enable reduced-rate streams.
Check Enable adaptive frame-rate throttle to automatically reduce FFT/waterfall frame rate when network quality degrades.

Disconnect from the Current Radio¶

Click Disconnect at any time to terminate the connection to the current radio.

Network Diagnostics¶

Click Open Network Diagnostics from any mode to open the Network Diagnostics dialog for troubleshooting connectivity issues.

Disable Auto-Connect for Manual Radio Selection on Startup¶

By default, AetherSDR reconnects to the last used radio every time it starts. Disabling this makes AetherSDR open the connection dialog on startup instead, so you can choose a radio manually each session.

Before you start¶

AetherSDR must be running.
No radio connection is required to change this setting.

Steps¶

Click Settings > Connect to Radio....
In the Connect to Radio dialog, scroll to the bottom of the page.
Locate the checkbox labelled Connect to last radio on start up.
Uncheck Connect to last radio on start up.

The setting is saved immediately to AutoConnectToLastRadio. The next time AetherSDR starts, it will open the connection dialog automatically instead of reconnecting to the last radio.

What each control does¶

Control	Default	Persisted setting	Behavior
"Connect to last radio on start up" checkbox	Checked (True)	`AutoConnectToLastRadio`	When checked, AetherSDR auto-connects to the last used radio on startup and on broadcast-discovery / routed-radio probe. When unchecked, the connection dialog opens and you must select a radio manually each session.

Tips¶

This setting also suppresses the automatic connection attempt that occurs during broadcast discovery and routed-radio probing, not only the initial startup reconnect.
If you share the computer across multiple stations or switch between radios frequently, leaving this unchecked avoids connecting to the wrong radio by accident.

Troubleshooting¶

AetherSDR still auto-connects after unchecking the box — Confirm you unchecked the box inside Settings > Connect to Radio... and not a different dialog. The checkbox label is exactly "Connect to last radio on start up". Quit and relaunch AetherSDR to verify the change takes effect.

All Controls Summary¶

Control	Default	Persisted setting	Behavior
Local / SmartLink / Manual mode buttons	Local	`ConnectionMode`	Switches between the three connection modes.
Available radios list	—	—	Displays LAN radios discovered via mDNS/Flex discovery.
Connect Selected Radio	—	—	Connects to the highlighted LAN radio.
No local radios found yet	—	—	Callout shown when discovery is empty.
Retry Discovery	—	—	Re-runs LAN discovery.
Remote with SmartLink	—	—	Shortcut to the SmartLink page.
Connect by IP	—	—	Shortcut to the Manual page.
Open Network Diagnostics	—	—	Opens NetworkDiagnosticsDialog.
SmartLink account: Email	—	`SmartLinkEmail`	SmartLink account email.
SmartLink account: Password	—	—	SmartLink password (not persisted).
Sign In	—	—	Authenticates with SmartLink.
Sign Out	—	—	Logs out of SmartLink.
Remote radios list	—	—	Lists SmartLink WAN radios available to the account.
Connect Remote Radio	—	—	Starts a WAN connection to the selected radio.
Radio IP address	—	`ManualRadioIp`	Manual IP to connect to.
Advanced: Source path	—	`ManualBindSource`	Picks local NIC used for the manual connection.
Connect by IP (manual)	—	—	Starts the manual/VPN connection.
Use low bandwidth mode	—	`LowBandwidthMode`	Enables reduced-rate streams for slow links.
Enable adaptive frame-rate throttle	Unchecked (False)	`AdaptiveThrottleEnabled`	Automatically reduces FFT/waterfall frame rate when network quality degrades.
Connect to last radio on start up	Checked (True)	`AutoConnectToLastRadio`	When checked, AetherSDR auto-connects to the last used radio on startup and on broadcast-discovery / routed-radio probe. When unchecked, the connection dialog opens and you must select a radio manually each session.
Disconnect	—	—	Disconnects from the current radio.

Indicators¶

Label	Meaning
Status label	Current connection state (searching / connecting / connected / errored).
Manual result label	Result text after probing a manual IP (success or error).
Source warning label	Warns when the selected source NIC is stale or unreachable.