How will my customers activate their devices? This is the most frequent question that manufacturers ask while deploying commercial products.
We have made the process easy and intuitive for the end-user whether it's a WiFi or non-WiFi device.
Every device needs a unique AuthToken in order to authenticate in Blynk.Cloud and be associated with the right template and user out of thousands that exist on Blynk.
During prototyping, you can manually add AuthToken to every device. However, when working with commercial products you would need a scalable approach to eliminate manual work.
Blynk.Edgent is a firmware API library that powers connectivity and linking to the cloud and works for both WIFI and non-WIFI (cellular, Ethernet) devices. Below you can find detailed guides on how to deploy these two types of devices as the steps required during the development and manufacturing process will differ for each.
PRO and BUSINESS flows
But before we get into the nuances related to connectivity type, let’s look at how the device activation process differs based on the subscription plan you choose.
The main differences lie in the following:
- whether your end-user will be downloading Blynk app or your own branded app (powered by Blynk) to activate the device
- whether you will need to have your user’s email address and invite them to your IoT system before they can activate their device.
PRO plan being a prototyping and managed service offering, requires you to invite each new user to your Blynk organization via their email address before they can start device activation.
BUSINESS plan is much more suitable for selling off-the-shelf products at scale as it skips the whole invitation process and allows users to self-register after they have purchased your device.
In the guides below watch out for the details that are relevant to your chosen plan.
Deploying WiFi devices
With Dynamic AuthTokens flow, you can use the same firmware on every device, which significantly simplifies the production process.
The flow works out of the box and provides a great user experience for end customers. Here you can find a detailed documentation for the process.
Deploying cellular / Ethernet devices
Static Tokens flow is designed for non-WiFi devices, like cellular or Ethernet ones, and on the end-user side is as easy as scanning the QR-code.
It facilitates deploying commercial products in all stages from manufacturing and testing to reselling and activation by the client. We have put together a step-by-step guide on how to set up everything on your side.
