Connecting to blynk-cloud.com:80 issue

Hi there,

I know this topic has been posted before. But all of the posts I read had no clear solution, or they just ended as a stub.

I’ve spent the last two weeks developing an awesome project. Multiple devices, grabbing GPS data from the phone, using bridges to communicate to one another, pulling sensor data and pushing it to the app to be displayed, and even using Webhooks to grab data using RestfulAPI from a few different databases - brilliant stuff, using pretty much all Blynk has to offer.

Blynk has been an amazing tool so far.

About a week later, though, I’ve powered on the devices to delve back into development and they have stopped working.

I am using an iPhone hotspot as my Wi-Fi network, with 2 devices. Both devices connected to the hotspot network fine, but neither was establishing a link to the Blynk app.

They are both ESP32 Modules, using Wi-Fi.

I tried restarting my iPhone several times, closing all active apps, leaving my premises to avoid other networks, using a different module, generating new authentication keys, and even creating an entirely new Blynk app. The only thing I haven’t done is delete Blynk entirely because the app I’ve developed has a fair few hours invested in it.

Because of this, I rolled back to some example projects to investigate. I’ve ended up at a dead-end here, using the Wi-Fi example project:


#define BLYNK_PRINT Serial


#include <WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include <BlynkSimpleEsp32.h>

// You should get Auth Token in the Blynk App.
// Go to the Project Settings (nut icon).
char auth[] = "censored";

// Your WiFi credentials.
// Set password to "" for open networks.
char ssid[] = "iPhone";
char pass[] = "password54321";

void setup()
{
  // Debug console
  Serial.begin(9600);

  Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass);
}

void loop()
{
  Blynk.run();
}

And looking at the serial output:

Which led to my search and the title of this post, but no answers. I know I can use config to maybe try another port - but which port should I try? What ports does blynk-cloud support?

Further to this, even if I do manage to find a solution: I was just about to start doing field trials with this device - but I’m now questioning the reliability of the devices using iPhone hotspot as their connection method, now that this has come up. I plan to move to Bluetooth eventually, but I need webhooks and this isn’t possible through BLE as far as I know. Is there anything I can do to avoid this in future? It’s a bit concerning.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Just a comment, I’ve tried Port 8442 using Blynk.config() etc. and still no luck :frowning:

Capture

Have you tried hard coding the blynk server IP in your sketch?

A few comments on what you’ve written @scott.williams.xen

That’s probably the root cause of your problem. Some mobile ISPs are known to block Blynk data packets.

The app definition is stored on the server, not the phone. You can delete the app from your phone and re-install it, or sign-in to your Blynk account from another phone, and the app will remain unchanged.

80 and 8080 for HTTP connections (which use the BlynkSimpleEsp32 library).

SSL connections require the BlynkSimpleEsp32_SSL library to be used.

Using “Blynk.config() etc” isn’t necessary, you can specify the port using Blynk.begin, or simply allow Blynk.begin to sort the port out for itself, based on the library that you’ve used.

I’d avoid BLE if possible, it doesn’t have the same functionality as the regular App <> Server
<> Device setup.

I guess one option may be a portable Blynk server/Hotspot, which talks to the remote database via their APIs using a mobile data connection (but not your phone hotspot, as your phone will be connected to the mobile server’s Wi-Fi).

Pete.

Hey Pete, thanks for the reply.

That’s a bit of a shame. I was using it last week constantly, for about 3-4 days of straight development. I guess there’s not much that can be done here, though it seems weird it was working before and not working now. Do you think that’s definitely the only potential reason?

Thanks, I’ll try Port 8080 and Blynk’s server IP address instead.

As for my comment on Bluetooth, I meant Bluetooth with a custom app my client will be pursuing - not using Blynk. While Blynk is truly unreal in its flexibility and features, without the ability to pull web data from the app and send it to the device (since Webhooks is actually the device grabbing it directly, and then sending it to the phone in fact), Blynk sadly isn’t appropriate for this product in the long run. Forcing users to open up a hotspot on their phone, and ensure it has the correct SSID/password, isn’t scaleable, friendly, or easy to use - but Blynk is doing great for now :slight_smile:

If this is going to be a commercial application then I think you’re approaching this from the wrong angle.
Use of the free version of Blynk (which this community forum aims to support) for commercial purposes is not allowed. The guys over at blynk.io will be able to give you advice about alternative solutions or bespoke development that may help solve your issues.

Any IoT system is going to need an internet connection, but there are solutions like Blynk Inject and dynamic provisioning that can remove some of the pain associated with connecting to a WiFi network. Once again, this is primarily aimed at commercial customers, so doesn’t get that much of a mention here.

Pete.

Hey Pete,

Thanks again for the reply.

Oh - I didn’t know there were free and not free versions of Blynk? My apologies. On blynk.io, when you go Developers -> Community, it takes you here. So I figured this is where developers go for support. Sorry!

Cheers again for your help and replies. Guess I’ll just see what I can come up with myself in terms of a workaround/solution.

Hi all, to anyone following this issue still.

I’ve connected to my hotspot on my laptop, and then pinged Blynk’s servers:

Capture

I’m getting a response fine. So I’m not convinced that this is a cellular ISP provider issue (also backed up by the fact that this is/isn’t working sporadically, not consistently). I’ll have to talk to someone at the team at Blynk perhaps, I guess.

Thanks all.

I didn’t say that your mobile data provider would be blocking access to the Blynk severs, what I said was:

There is a difference.

Maybe reading this will explain more:

I’m unclear about why your project worked initially but not now, but I guess there are a wide variety of possibilities including changes made by your ISP, a different cell tower with different configuration etc.
I assume that you e restarted your phone?

Maybe running something like WireShark may provide some insight.

Pete.