Frequently Asked Questions > Airconsole - Technical Details

Airconsole puts out RS232 voltage levels rather than "TTL" levels - ie + and - voltage rather than + and 0 voltage. However, the Airconsole cable that runs from the USB port on the adaptor to the Serial device has an 8 pin connector, so the RI (Ring Indicator) pin (pin 9) is missing when converted to DB9 presentation with one of the included Pro-kit dongles. This pin is typically never used in terminal connections.

Airconsole ships with a 30cm USB-Bluetooth-RJ45 Serial cable that should be connected to the Airconsole's USB port. This cable  has active electronics in it, and is designed specifically to work with the Airconsole adaptor. Because Airconsole is quite small and designed to be accessed wirelessly, we made the cable short so that the weight of the adaptor can be supported hanging from the cable.

We will offer 1.8m serial cables as an additional cost option. Alternatively you can simply extend the supplied 30cm cable with an RJ45 joiner and a straight through Ethernet lead.

Probably - if you can get it to work with Hyperterminal on an old windows laptop it should work with Get Console and the Airconsole adaptor. Just copy the settings for the Baud Rate, Flowcontrol, Stopbits, Parity etc into the Get Console connection manager, save, and then tap connect-via Airconsole. If it doesn't work, you can return Airconsole to our offices for a refund - however you will need to pay the return freight.

Wifi range varies due to interference etc - Airconsole has a chip antenna so is designed for proximate use. Generally in a Server room environment the range is 10 meters. We have tuned the speed of the WIFI down when in serial port mode to increase its range. In an open room with no interference Airconsole can operate at 25 meters with minimal lag. Attaching an external antenna is not possible in the current hardware.

Bluetooth range however is generally upto 10 meters in all conditions.

Airconsole battery life depends heavily on WIFI power output needed to communicate with the iPad. At around 5 meter range Airconsole runs for over 5 hours of continuous terminal use from completely full battery. At extended range or when operating with WIFI and Bluetooth, the battery life reduces to around 3 hours. However, the Airconsole also has a seperate micro-USB external power connector so that it can also run of external power indefinately. This external charging/power cable is included in the package. Charging time from empty to full is around 1.5 hours.

The Airconsole XL battery also has the same variations in performance. in normal operation, in WIFI only (no Bluetooth dongle attached), at close range, the battery will last for 12 hours. Using at extended WIFI range or enabling Bluetooth mode as well will cause the battery life to drop to 8 hours.

Like all laptops and other rechargeable battery based products, the Airconsole adaptor's Lithium Polymer battery will degrade over time. We will have replacement batteries available for purchase from August 2013. The battery in the Airconsole should retain 80% of its full charge after 6 months of normal use. 

The Airconsole is fully field updatable via its embedded web interface. We will make new features and bug fixes available via the www.get-console.com/airconsole page as and when required.

For existing Airconsole users that wish to upgrade to support Bluetooth connectivity will require firmware 2.5 and also replace the USB-Serial cable with a new USB-Bluetooth-Serial cable. The replacement cable is available at our webshop.

M2M mode allows for a serial-over-wifi/ethernet adaptor to pair with another adaptor to make a long distance serial connection. Airconsole now supports this feature as at firmware 2.11 and later. To configure M2M mode see the Remote Access tab.

No. Airconsole presents RS232 Serial, including Cisco USB-console ports and bridged Ethernet to the iPad. It does not have drivers to present any other type of USB device to the iPad/iPhone or other host operating system.