When to use a Box
When the customer has no PC that stays on, or their IT will not let you install anything. The Box needs only a USB port for power (on the copier or a USB charger) and the office Wi-Fi.
The four steps
1. In the office: install the software on the ESP32-C3 board from this page (Chrome or Edge on a computer).
2. Create a pairing code: on the same page, choose the customer and site and press Create pairing code (it is the same as + Add agent). From a customer's page, Connect a SubClik Box under a site opens this page with the customer and site already chosen.
3. Still in the office: write the code to the Box: with the Box on the same USB cable, press Write the code to the Box. Nobody has to type the code at the customer.
4. At the customer: plug in and set up from a phone: join the Box's own Wi-Fi, log in (admin / admin on a new Box, then choose a new password), choose the office Wi-Fi and enter its password.
Security
The setup page needs a login. A new Box (or one reset from the portal) accepts admin / admin once and then only lets you choose a new password (at least 8 characters) before anything else.
The password is kept only on the Box, as a scrambled (hashed) copy. SubClik never sees it and has no hidden login to the Box.
Lost password: Agents tab › the Box › Settings and actions › Reset Box password (office staff only). The login goes back to admin / admin until a new password is chosen. Every reset is written to the audit log.
Five wrong passwords in a row lock the login for a minute.
Firewalls: the Box only connects out, to www.subsense.app on port 443 (HTTPS), and to a time server (NTP, UDP port 123). Nothing needs to be opened inwards. Networks that only reach the internet through a proxy need the Windows agent.
Lights
Fast blinking: setup Wi-Fi is on. Slow blinking: connecting. A short flash every 4 seconds: working. Double flash: cannot reach the portal.
No button needed
To open the setup Wi-Fi again (new Wi-Fi password, or a new pairing code to move the Box to another customer): unplug the Box and plug it back in 3 times within a few seconds. The setup Wi-Fi stays on for 15 minutes.
When the office Wi-Fi has been gone for 5 minutes, the setup Wi-Fi opens by itself while the Box keeps trying the saved network; it closes again once the Box is back online.
Good to know
The Box only reads printers (SNMP), only on its own network, and only connects out to SubClik over HTTPS.
Meters are read once a day at the agent's read hour, printer status every few hours, and errors, jams and low toner within a minute.
Boxes already in use update their software by themselves.
Offices where the internet goes through a web proxy: on the Box's setup page open Advanced: fixed address, proxy, portal and enter the proxy, e.g. 10.0.0.5:3128, or http://user:password@10.0.0.5:3128 when it asks for a login. HTTP proxies (CONNECT) only, and the proxy must let HTTPS to www.subsense.app through unopened (no HTTPS inspection), otherwise the Box refuses the connection. A proxy problem shows under the field.
SNMPv3: set the users on the Agents tab, under the Box's Settings and actions › SNMPv3. The Box supports SHA, SHA-2 and MD5 with AES; printers that need DES must be read by the Windows agent.
A full Printer report is not available from a Box yet; use Read now or the Windows agent for that.
Questions
Does it work on a guest Wi-Fi or 5 GHz?
No. It must join the office Wi-Fi the printers are on, on 2.4 GHz. A guest network usually cannot see the printers.
How do I know it is working?
The light flashes briefly every 4 seconds, and in Printers & agents the Box appears on the Agents tab as Online with its Wi-Fi, signal and the printers it reads.
The Wi-Fi password changed. What now?
After 5 minutes without Wi-Fi the Box opens SubClik-Box-XXXX by itself (or unplug and plug it in 3 times quickly). Join it on your phone and choose the network again. The pairing stays.
What does a Box cost?
On the Monitor plan: £19 each, or free with a yearly plan from 25 printers (see Administration › Usage & plan).
Signal shows weak or very weak.
Move the Box (or the USB charger it is on) closer to the Wi-Fi router or access point.
Works together with
- Install the software on a SubClik BoxPut the SubClik software on a new ESP32-C3 board from your browser, in the office, in about a minute.
- Set up a SubClik Box at the customer (Wi-Fi and pairing)Plug the Box into the copier, join its own Wi-Fi from your phone, log in, choose the office Wi-Fi (and the pairing code if it was not written in the office). The printers appear in SubClik within minutes.
- Change a Box's Wi-Fi, or move it to another customerReopen the setup Wi-Fi without opening the case: plug the Box in 3 times quickly, or let it open by itself when the office Wi-Fi is gone.
- Add an agent (create a pairing code)Create a pairing code for a customer and site. The code connects one Agent or SubClik Box to that customer; it works once and is valid for 7 days.
- Install the SubClik Agent on a Windows PCInstall the Agent on one always-on Windows computer in the same network as the printers, enter the pairing code and scan. It runs as a Windows service and needs no one signed in.